The Captain
by YourWriter
Summary: Charlie Swan is sick of seeing his once vibrant daughter so depressed. He's afraid nothing will pull her out of it. What happens when Charlie decides enough is enough and sends Bella to a Military School? Will she ever find her place in life? What will become of her now? Does she even miss the Cullen's? ****WARNING**** This fic does feature M/M and F/F slash AS WELL AS Polyamory.
1. Chapter 1

**No copyright infringement intended. This fic is OOC and AU and will be a Jasper/Bella paring with Peter/Charlotte. This fic is also rated M for language, lemons, and situations that aren't all that pretty.**

 **BE AWARE THAT THIS IS A SLOW BURN FIC AND IT WILL TAKE A WHILE TO GET MY CHARACTERS TOGETHER!**

 **I own nothing. SM owns all, I'm just playing around with her toys. (Although, truth be told, if I could own a certain Major Whitlock, I would in a heartbeat.)**

 **Also, I am still working on MtM. I'm just not getting the next chapter to behave itself. However, until I can get it to do what I need it to, I've started this little story.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **BPOV**

He left me.

He didn't want me.

I wasn't good for him.

In my heart I knew that I was never good enough for him. It was fairly obvious once I think about it. What did I have that held him here? Nothing. I was a plain and unimportant girl whereas He was perfect. It's no wonder he left me, but did they all have to go?

Alice, the sister I never had.

Esme, the mother I had always wanted.

Carlisle, the father I looked up to.

Emmett, the big brother that I loved spending time with.

Rosalie was probably thrilled to be rid of me.

Jasper…I never really got to know him, although I would have liked to if given the chance. Apparently he was wrong when he told me I was worth it. I wonder if he still thinks that now.

They all left.

I know it wasn't Jasper's fault.

My birthday.

I bled in a room full of vampires and he only did what his instinct told him to. I wasn't scared that he would hurt me. I knew he wouldn't. I would have just liked to tell him that I understood that it wasn't his fault. It was mine.

The stupid, unimportant, clumsy, mousy human.

My father, Charlie doesn't know what to do with me. He's threatened everything from therapy to sending me back to Renee. He doesn't understand that I don't want to live anymore. I have nothing and no one to live for anymore. I don't want to take care of my flighty mother anymore. I don't want to be a maid for my father anymore.

My depression has completely taken over. My grades are slipping. I don't hang out with friends anymore. I don't eat. I barely sleep. I have become a shell of my former self and I can think of nothing better than to let this black hole have me.

Even Jake has had no luck getting me to come back from the brink. We used to have such an easy friendship, no expectations, but now he wants what E…Edw… _He_ has left behind and I can't give him that. He deserves a girl far better than me.

It's been months since they left. Nothing has changed. Where I used to go to school, ready to learn about everything; there is now nothing more than a filled chair in a classroom. Where I used to be independent and have a job; there is now nothing more than sitting in a rocking chair in my room staring out the window into nothing. Where I used to cook dinner for Charlie and myself; I now lie in bed staring at the ceiling hoping that this pain will just kill me already.

I can see Charlie is at his wits end. He wants to help me, but he can't. No one can help me now. I'm too far gone. Who would want to deal with me, anyway? Why would anyone bother? Jasper lied. I was never worth it. Carlisle should have let Ed… _Him_ drain me in the ballet studio. I would be better off dead. Then the pain would end.

"That's it!" Charlie practically shouts at me bringing me out of my reverie.

I can't answer him. I haven't spoken for months. I just look at him to elaborate on his statement like I know he will.

"I'm tired of this, Bells. I don't know what else to do to bring you back. It's like you died when Edward left. Do you honestly think so little of yourself that one breakup throws you into this kind of depression?"

I continue to stare at him. Not answering him has worked for me up till now.

"You need to build up your self confidence again. You need to follow a healthier path and rebuild yourself from the ground up. Sweetheart, I can't help you anymore. You won't graduate with the way you're going right now and I am out of options. You won't seek out therapy for this, you won't go back to Renee, and you won't let me help you. I'm sorry, but I'm sending you to a military school to repeat your senior year." He states.

I just look at him. Honestly, I'm not surprised.

He doesn't want me anymore. I'm worthless and useless even to my own father. If I could feel any more, I'm sure I would feel guilty, maybe even sad, but I can't feel anything other than pain anymore.

"The Army worked wonders for me, Bells." He says. "I can only hope that it works for you. They made me into a new man. A more confident man. I want you to get your self-confidence back. I want you to realize that you are more than this depressed and heartbroken girl. All I want for you is to realize what kind of woman you could be and become that woman."

So that's it. I'm going to military school. I can't even summon the energy to be angry, or upset about this decision. Although I have little faith that anything will change once I'm there.

 **A/N: So…yeah. Here's the first chapter of my new fic. I don't mean anyone any disrespect if I get something wrong when talking about Military life. I just know I need Bella to become more self-confident, stronger as a character, and I need her to kick ass. This is the only way I could see making this fic work properly, so bear with me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I still don't own anything Twilight! I'm just playing with the characters. No copyright infringement intended! Also, if I get anything wrong in describing the Sniper life, I'M SORRY. I apologize immensely and I mean no disrespect. This is FICTION. I just needed Bella to be a badass in the Military for this story to work, and considering she's a woman, there's not really any place that she can be more of a badass than as a Sniper.**

 **BPOV**

Today is my graduation from the US Army Sniper School. It amazes me just how far I've come in this amount of time. I can never thank my dad enough for sending me to the Military High School that he did. I had finished school on time with the rest of my class and I even graduated with honors. I made a few friends, but none of which I had kept in contact with. I was never impolite to anyone, but I wasn't exactly overly friendly to anyone either. I'm still that way now. There's just something about me that won't let anyone get close to me. Most of my class decided on a non-military college to attend, but I found that I enjoyed this way of life.

My dad was correct when he said that I would become more self-confident. I am. Although I was shocked to find out exactly what it was that brought out my confidence. Basic Training was something no one was looking forward to, not even me, but I realized that the physical activity helped my mental state a bit more every day. Learning hand-to-hand combat was amazingly fun and the self-defense classes were a treat. I'm not sure how or why, but learning anything physical was both fun and highly self-assuring. I learned to trust my body more and more every day and every day it got stronger and stronger.

Learning how to shoot handguns and rifles was an even better challenge, although I did have a bit of experience. I'm sure that my dad being the Forks Police Chief had something to do with that. What I did not expect was how good I would be with a Sniper Rifle. I didn't mind the waiting for the go-ahead to shoot. I didn't mind working with a spotter to get the right distance and wind speed. I enjoyed working with a good partner. It was almost zen-like for me to be in that mental state. I'm not sure what that says about me, but hey, I gave up caring what other people thought about me a long time ago. I wasn't concerned.

Along with my new and improved body image, and skill set, I realized that other people-both in my senior year of Military School and in Sniper School-relied on me to get things accomplished. Nothing that reminded me of how I was when I lived with Charlie or my mom, thank goodness, but other things that would give me the lack of opportunity for self-doubt. I learned to trust myself and my decisions more every day. A person actually listening to and taking my views into account was a new experience, but I really enjoyed giving my thoughts and opinions to others and was overjoyed when those opinions came to fruition. Over time I became more of the woman that my parents had wanted me to be. I actually managed to get several promotions in rank and will graduate out of Sniper School as an Officer. I'm quite proud of myself for that accomplishment.

I'll admit that my parents were a bit shocked when I told them that I would stay in the military. I had wanted to become an MP after reading about and studying them. I found that I had a knack for criminal law as well and that helped tremendously. Who knew, maybe I could follow in my dad's footsteps and become a cop when I decided to leave? Besides, as a woman, I was limited as to what I could and couldn't do in the military. Being an MP gave me the opportunity to put all of that training to good use.

However, that was not what fate had in store for me. I had been approached by a superior officer after our latest Sniper practice and was requested to stay on to shoot targets that were a bit farther out and more difficult to get to. I had exceeded his expectations by 700 yards and was given a special assignment after graduation. I was being sent to a Military base overseas. I didn't have my orders as of yet, but I knew that wherever I ended up, I would do my damndest to make my parents and myself proud.

Even Billy and Jake Black were coming to show their support for me today and I was glad that they agreed to come. I know my relationship with Jake was strained at best over the months before I was sent to Military School. I'm just glad that we were able to keep our friendship intact over the years. I loved him, I truly did, but just not in the way he wanted me to. It was difficult letting him down as many times as I did, but I would always see him as a brother. He was nothing if not persistent, though. I remember a time that I had gone back home to spend the Holidays with Charlie and of course we had gone to the Rez to visit everyone. It wasn't unusual to spend several days visiting with the Blacks, but after several attempts from Jake to change my mind about dating him, I had lost my temper with him and, after giving him a black eye and a broken nose, he decided that 'no' really did mean 'no'.

It was remarkable how quickly he managed to heal from both, though. It had taken me weeks to get rid of similar bruises, but for him, it only took about a day. It was fascinating and astonishing to watch, but at least he finally got the point. He only brings it up now to see if he can get a rise out of me. Mostly he's just joking around, but I think there's still a part of him that wishes I would agree.

"Swan, you're late! Get your ass in gear!" My Staff Sergeant shouts at me.

I don't say anything, there's no need. I just finish adding the last of the bobby pins in my hair and head out the door to the ceremony. I used to have an issue with everyone shouting at me all the time, but after a while, it just became normal. The first time I actually obeyed a command that was shouted at me, I was shocked. It was almost like my body and mind were two separate entities and even though my mind was in an unhealthy place, my body responded to the order. After I had finished my task, I had thought about why I had acted without putting up a fight. The only possible explanation that I could come up with was that my body wanted something to do other than mope around for the rest of my life. After that, it just became normal to act on the orders my superiors shouted at me.

I finish the last bobby pin and head out the door to finish this chapter of my life and start on a brand new one. I admit that I haven't been this excited over something in quite some time. Hopefully whatever orders I get after this will help point me in the right direction that my life should take. A girl can certainly dream.

After the ceremony I had 24 hours free before my orders were given to me. I wanted to celebrate with what little family I had. Charlie, Billy, Jake, Renee and Phil were all here today and I was going to enjoy what little time I had left here in the States. After pictures were taken and hugs were given, I told everyone to meet at a local restaurant in town. It was a quaint little place that had fast become my favorite dining establishment over the past few years and by now it was considered odd if I didn't show up at least once a week. It reminded me of that little diner in Forks that my dad would go to all the time. I was beginning to realize that maybe I had more in common with Charlie than I had thought.

Once everyone arrived we ordered dinner and began discussing the possibilities of places I might be assigned to. Renee was hoping that I was going to be stationed somewhere like Paris or Rome. Somewhere more out of the way and less dangerous. I hated to break it to her, but I seriously doubted the likelihood that I would be going somewhere like that. Phil and Charlie were debating over the possibility of Iraq versus Iran and where I might be needed most out of those two countries. Jake was more of the Afghanistan train of thought considering there had been some fairly recent disturbances there. Honestly, I just didn't care. As long as I got the opportunity to get away from the States for a little while, it really didn't matter to me where I ended up.

As our food began arriving, I realized that I was going to miss all of this. The sense of family and belonging that I was having wasn't a strong feeling, but it was infinitely better than nothing and I would take it over nothing in a heartbeat. I knew what nothing felt like. I was intimately familiar with that feeling and I refused to feel that ever again. I knew that this feeling wouldn't last forever, but I was determined to make the most of it while I had the chance.

"We'll need to do this again when you get back, Bells." Charlie says out of the blue.

"I agree." Billy replies.

"I'm up for that," Jake states smiling, "you just tell me when and where."

"We can do this again, but only if she can handle it." Phil replies. "We don't want to overwhelm her when she gets back stateside."

"What do you mean 'if she can handle it'?" I ask defensively.

"Being in a war zone can affect different people in different ways." Phil begins pointedly, "We just want to take your best interest at heart."

The realization that I may be a completely different woman when I got back was a bit overwhelming. I knew that most people that completed their tours overseas were a little…different when they got back. Some of that was due to PTSD, some had injuries to deal with, and some didn't come back at all. I would do everything in my power to come back, but some things you just can't prepare for. This was my time to come to terms with that and be prepared for anything that may happen.

"So, how long will you be overseas?" Billy asks, taking a bite out of his steak.

"I'm not sure yet." I reply as I reach for the ketchup. "I'm guessing a couple of years at the very least, but I can't be too sure. My orders could change before I even get there."

"So what are you hoping for?" Phil asks.

"What do you mean?" I reply.

"Well," he says finishing up his dinner, "we've all put in our two cents when it comes to where you'll be stationed. Where would you prefer to go?"

"Honestly, it doesn't really matter." I state simply. "I couldn't care less where I go. As long as I'm being useful and getting my missions completed it doesn't matter to me."

We finished up our dinner soon after and we all said goodnight to one another before I headed back to campus for my last night. Phil and Renee were going to leave first thing in the morning for a flight back to Florida and Billy, Jake, and Charlie were going to leave tomorrow afternoon for a flight back to Washington. I had told everyone I would let them know as soon as I found out where I was going and where they could send mail or care packages.

The next morning, after a rather fitful night's sleep of red-eyed and black cloaked figures, I reported to my superior officer and was given verbal orders to be at the airport, bound for a flight to a military base in Afghanistan, in two hours. It seemed Jake was right after all. I would have to call him later and let him know. Although, knowing him, he'd probably placed a bet with someone on the Rez as to where I'd end up, so perhaps it was in my best interest to make him wait a bit until I got there to let him know. Not that I was betting against him, or anything. I would never do that.

I was also told that I would be meeting my spotter and long-term partner once I arrived. Her name was Charlotte Winchester and from what I read the file my Lieutenant gave me, she had the best eyes in the business. Apparently, she had been abroad for six months already and her current partner had done the four years they were contracted for and got out while the getting was good. I couldn't really blame them, this life isn't for everybody, but I couldn't see myself leaving it anytime soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Keep in mind that this is FICTION! Meaning that I may have gotten something wrong, and I'm TRULY SORRY, but PLEASE bear with me. It won't be forever.**

 **I own nothing. SM owns all, I'm just playing around with her toys.**

As soon as I stepped off the plane on the base in Afghanistan, and made my way to the command center, I knew things were going to be different. Not that I really expected a Starbucks around every corner, English to be the only language spoken, and listening to people talk about the latest fashion trends on their cell phones, but I don't think I was entirely prepared for the alienness of the world around me. I was used to the arid climate because I had lived in Phoenix, so that was nothing new and I could get used to it fairly quickly, but this place was in the middle of a war zone and extremely obvious about it.

As I kept walking, I noticed there seemed to be no actual brick and mortar buildings. It was all tents. Granted, they were fairly decent sized tents, nothing that you would take on a camping trip, but tents none the less. It looked like I was going to be living in a gigantic tent-city for the foreseeable future, which was interesting, but that wasn't the extent of what I was seeing. There were soldiers walking around in full battle gear with loaded guns, you could hear machinegun fire in the distance, orders being called from tent to tent, and bored soldiers just looking for their next adrenaline rush by doing daredevil stunts and playing limb/life-threatening games. Even though I had trained for battle, I was still extremely green when it came to actually accepting that this is how things were here.

I walked into the command center to let my commanding officers know I had arrived, I was greeted with the usual abrupt "What have we got, here?" from the resident Colonel on site.

"Sergeant Isabella Swan, reporting for duty, sir!" I reply automatically, taking the orders I had been given back in the States and handing them over to the Colonel. Once I step back, I take the stance of a soldier at attention and I wait until my orders are reviewed.

"Sniper, eh?" He asks gruffly.

"Yes, sir!" I reply.

"Good. We've needed another sniper since our last one left. Although, I'm glad to be rid of her. Couldn't handle the pressure. I suppose you'll want easy targets?" He asks.

"No, sir!" I reply honestly. "I'm here for any and all targets you're willing to give me, sir! No matter how difficult they are."

"Well, we'll see about that, won't we, Sergeant? I'm going to have you meet up with Second Lieutenant Kristov at the Sniper range so we can see how good you really are. Be there in one hour, Sergeant. You are dismissed."

As I leave the command center, I get my bunk assignment, directions to the mess hall and showers, and various other bits of information I'm going to need while I'm here. I don't hesitate too long once I leave the command center before I head off to find my bunk and meet Charlotte before I head off to the range. It doesn't take me too long to find where I need to be, thanks in part to the various signs all over the camp, but I still feel relieved once I finally make it to my bunk.

There's not much to this tent if I'm being honest. Cots and trunks line the floor on both sides making an aisle in the center just big enough for one person to walk down. I'm glad to be the only one in here at the moment because it will give me the chance to orient myself without ruckus and distractions. I don't have to wait long before a short, cute, blonde woman makes her way into the bunk and interrupts my serenity.

"You must be Isabella!" she states enthusiastically. "I'm Charlotte!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you." I state reaching my hand out for her to shake it. She startles me by dragging me into a hug, but before I can react, she releases me and starts walking down the aisle.

"This is my bunk." She states, pointing to one about a third of the way into the tent. "And this one," she continues, pointing to one across the aisle, "is yours."

"Thanks." I reply honestly. "I wasn't sure which ones were taken and I didn't just want to leave my stuff on the floor." I walk over to where she's standing and begin to put my things into the trunk at the foot of the cot.

"No. You certainly do not want to leave anything on the floor." She replies. "There are things that live in the sand here that you do not want to be unpleasantly surprised to find in your unmentionables. Trust me."

"Oh, I believe you." I reply.

"So, I heard you made quite the impression on the Colonel when you got here." She states mysteriously.

"Oh? I didn't think I made that good of an impression." I reply baffled.

"Well, not everyone who meets him gets the chance to prove their worth within their first hour." Charlotte states.

"I just told him that I didn't want the 'easy' targets he seemed ready to give me. I'm better than that." I state a bit hotly. "If I have to prove it to him, then I'm damn well ready to."

"Oh, I'm gonna like working with you." Charlotte states grinning. "Come on, we need to make our way to the range. I wanna see what you've got!"

I can't help but chuckle a little at her enthusiasm. It seems that Charlotte and I are going to get along just fine. She adds an element of fun to my sometimes overwhelming seriousness. I need someone to balance me out a bit and she seems like the person who can do it.

We talk a bit more on our way to the range and I find out she's from Austin, Texas and has two older brothers, one is a Marine and the other is a Navy Seal. Her father is a retired Air Force Captain who flies commercial airliners to keep him from driving her mother, a retired Army Nurse, to an early grave.

"So this military way of life is in your blood, huh?" I ask.

She lets out a very unladylike guffaw and replies, "You could say that. I always knew the military life would be for me. I don't see myself doing anything else."

"I actually didn't realize this life would be as good for me as it has been." I state. "Circumstances beyond my control left me in a very unhealthy state at the beginning of my senior year of High School and my dad ended up sending me to a military academy to get my act together. I enjoyed it more than anyone thought I would and things just kind of…spiraled from there."

"When did you know you wanted to be a Sniper?" She asks.

"I didn't." I reply honestly. "My plan was to become an MP and then become a cop when I left the military life. However, one of my training officers noticed how good I was with a Sniper Rifle and tested me for my accuracy with one. I surpassed his expectations by 700 yards and he thought I'd be of better use as a Sniper."

"Damn! 700 yards! That's impressive!" Charlotte replies, shocked.

"Well, I'm just hoping that I can manage to impress the Colonel as well. I don't want to be seen as someone who can only take the 'easy' missions. I'm here for a reason, and I'll be damned if I'm not going to make the most of it." I manage to say before we get to the range.

I see the Colonel and several other officers standing at the entrance to the range and begin to feel a twinge of nervousness.

"We'll discuss more later." Charlotte whispers as we pass by everyone and walk toward an equipment table that has the standard M24 Sniper rifle and Charlotte's various spotter equipment on it. "Time to go to work."

The shooting range is exactly what I would expect to see from an Army camp. Dozens of targets set at various distances from the platform we're standing on.

"Alright, Sergeant," the Colonel says authoritatively from behind the platform, "show us what you're made of."

Charlotte and I take up our positions in an available bay and begin to set our equipment up properly. Once Charlotte and I get situated, Second Lieutenant Kristov begins giving me instructions on which target to hit. I take that information and relay it to my spotter and begin asking her questions about the distance to the targets, wind speed and direction and begin to take aim at my assigned targets. We start from the closest target, which is about 100 yards out, and it's a headshot without any problem or hesitation. We move on to the next target, 250 yards out, and it's the same result.

We keep this up for every target and it turns out we have quite the rhythm going together. That nice rhythm is stays with us until we get to the target that's at a mile out. I take an extra breath before pulling the trigger. Just long enough to make sure my crosshairs are where I need them to be. The other officers are beginning to doubt my ability, just based on that one extra breath, but I still manage a headshot even from that distance.

"Alright, enough!" Lieutenant Kristov demands. "Stand and place your equipment back on the table, Sergeant, then meet us back in the command center."

Charlotte and I don't hesitate to obey orders. We quickly disassemble our equipment, place it on the table where we got it, and make our way back to command. I'm not sure if what we managed to do today is good or bad, but whatever the case may be, we'll get through it together as we're supposed to. Hopefully I haven't embarrassed Charlotte with the way I was shooting. Although it doesn't seem like I have from the way she's walking with me to the command center.

"That was some truly impressive work, Swan." Charlotte tells me.

"Really?" I ask concerned, "I'm not sure the Colonel would agree."

"Oh, he's a hard ass, sure. No sense denying it, but I would consider it insulting if he gave you easy targets from now on. You blew him away! Don't be so hard on yourself. You know you did well."

"I certainly hope you're right."

The Colonel doesn't say a word to us as we stand at attention in front of him. He looks over file after file after file on his desk before even remembering that we're there. Using the silence as an intimidation tactic, I'm sure. Then, what seems like hours later and without warning, he stands, holds out a file to me, and says, "72 hours, Seargeant. That's when you both leave for this mission. You have all the information you'll need in there. You'll have 12 hours to get this mission accomplished and by hour 13, your extraction team will leave you behind. Once the mission is complete, I want a full report on my desk the next day. Dismissed."

Charlotte and I head back over to our bunk to look over the new mission file. It seems pretty basic from the information that's been gathered. The target was a high priority arms dealer arming up the opposing forces with near the same military weaponry that our side had. Granted there's was a few years out of "prime" date, but they could still do damage when push came to shove – or when gunfire came to…gunfire? Hmm. I'd have to work on that.

Our target was supposed to be discussing an arms sale with a few of his right-hand men at a compound just outside the city of Kandahar. Our job was to find a position that we could see the most of the compound from, make sure we couldn't be seen by the enemy, make sure our target showed up, and take him out before the rest of his men got there. They weren't on our list yet, so we leave them alone…for now.

It seemed like this was a pretty basic take down. From the information gathered, this guy was extremely predictable in his movements, who he talked to, and what he did on a day-to-day basis.

"Seems like you can pretty much set your watch by this guy's habits." Charlotte states.

"I'm getting that, too. Although I don't want to be too reliant on what he usually does. For all we know, on the day this is set to go down, things could spiral out of control before we even get there. Do we have aerial or satellite footage of the area surrounding the compound?"

"Yep. Here it is. Taken less than 36 hours ago." Charlotte hands me a colored aerial photo of the compound and I notice right away a good spot to watch from. I can only hope that it's as clear as it seems in the photo.

"Ok, I'm seeing a good vantage point right here on this building." I state confidently, pointing to a building about 600 yards away from the compound. "If we set up here as soon as possible, I'm thinking that we'll have a perfect view of everything that goes on in that compound."

We spend the next several hours hashing the details of our plan including our drop-off and pick-up points as well as any contingency plans that we may need in case we need to CYA (Cover Your Ass). Once our plan for action is thoroughly ironed out and every possible plan put in place, then we call it a night.

It seems that in our little world of planning, Charlotte and I hadn't even noticed that our bunk was getting rather full of other female soldiers that had been out and about that day. Honestly, I couldn't find it in myself to care that I missed out on meeting other people. Oh well, it's not like I don't have the next two days to meet everyone. For now, it's time to crash out. I don't even think I took my boots off before falling right onto my cot and passing out.

Over the next two days, I get my bearings a bit more around the base, I make several new acquaintances, and I beat everyone in our bunk at sharpshooting. I'm not sure, but I think several of my challengers may have bruised their egos a bit when they thought they could out shoot me. Although, I do have to give Charlotte some credit, she did warn them. However, I'm not so sure if after I've won would count as a 'warning' or not. I'm a bit unclear. Call it a gray area if you will.

Before I know it, Charlotte and I are packed, briefed, geared up, and loaded on a helicopter for our first mission. I'll admit that I'm not exactly sure if Charlotte paid attention to anything in our briefing at 0800 this morning because someone – me – wouldn't allow her to detour to get coffee before our briefing. It's not my fault Ms. Come-On-Swan-Live-A-Little stayed up late singing Karaoke last night. Although I will admit that the stink eye she was giving during that briefing was well worth missing out on the fun though.

It doesn't take us long before we're at our drop off point. Charlotte and I immediately make for cover as soon as we disembark the helicopter. It takes us about twenty minutes or so to get to the building I felt would make a good vantage point for us to set up and we try to stay hidden as much as possible on the way. I had thought that the roof would give us what we needed, but Charlotte pointed out that the floor right below the roof would work better to keep us more hidden from enemy snipers that may be out here. I completely agreed with her assessment and within an hour after we landed, we were set up to watch the compound for our target.

Now, it was just a waiting game.

We waited.

And waited.

And…waited.

Charlotte and I talked about everything while we stayed in our positions; past lovers, hobbies, favorite movies, and various other topics just to pass the time. She was shocked to say the least at my lack of past lovers, although she had a very impressive RAP sheet herself and tended not to stick to one specific gender. If she liked someone, she went after them. I was a bit awestruck by her brazen attitude when it came to something so intimate, but I wasn't one to judge considering that I had hoped to be a lover to a vampire earlier in my life. No need to tell her that, though.

We did have some common interests in movies, most of which I'd either seen with, or heard about, from Jake. I did tend to read a lot more than Charlotte did, but she seemed to have enough fun for the two of us with her outgoing personality. She had apparently "never met a stranger" and with an attitude like that, it was only a matter of time before I either loved her or hated her. I wasn't sure this early into our partnership which one would be the best case scenario.

Our target arrived at the compound roughly six hours into our mission and I was just waiting for the opportunity to strike. Charlotte had noticed him too and was keeping me updated on any changes that I may have needed to make with the settings on my rifle. The glorious opportunity to take out this target came before I knew it and I was getting a little nervous and a lot excited at the chance to do this. As Charlotte made the call to get the "OK" for me to shoot, I kept my target in my crosshairs. He wasn't doing very much except wandering about the compound gesturing wildly. It looked like he was on the phone with someone and part of my brain couldn't help but note that the conversation didn't seem to be going his way.

It wasn't too long before he was off the phone and it was a now-or-never moment. I got the "OK" from the higher-ups to take the shot and the butterflies in my stomach exploded. I shook the feeling off and took a deep breath.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Then I pulled the trigger.


	4. Chapter 4

Four years I've been here.

In those four years I've moved up the ranks and am now Captain Isabella Swan. I honestly didn't believe I would make it this far, much less make this a career, but I don't have anything waiting for me anymore back in the States, so I lost myself in being a soldier.

In these past four years, I've lost both of my parents and I hated that I felt the edges of that ragged hole that the Cullen's left beginning to re-open. Charlie died my second year in Afghanistan due to a bank robbery gone wrong. It still made me a bit emotional to realize that I never really got to _know_ my father. The little time I lived with him I was so caught up in the Cullen's that my relationship with my father suffered. I know he tried to make me feel loved and cared for, but our relationship was always a strain no matter how much we loved each other. My mother, Renee received his flag during his funeral and even though they were no longer married, I heard from Phil that it had a special place on their mantelpiece until I was ready to come back to get it.

Six months later my mom called me with news that she had stage four breast cancer and six months after that she was gone. I had gone back to the States once to see her before she died and I could see the toll that it was taking on her. She knew she wouldn't survive, but she was willing to fight as hard as her body would let her. The day I heard about her death, Char took me to a local bar to get drunk and I drank the pain away. Her death was more difficult for me to handle because it was like losing a child and a parent at the same time. I had taken care of her for years before my move to Forks and her death wasn't something I was ready to accept gracefully.

I did keep in touch with Phil for a while, but he soon found love again and remarried and I was left without any parental figure at all. It was one of the darkest times I'd had since the Cullen's had left me, but with Char's help and with plenty of missions to keep my mind off the pain, I managed to outshine all of my peers and rose rapidly to my new station.

Char called me a workaholic, but she also managed to benefit from working all the time. Her station rose as mine did, but she was one tier lower at First Lieutenant which was nothing to turn your nose up at. She would have made Captain with me, but due to an unfortunate set of circumstances that I was not involved in – which may or may not have involved a monkey, a dress made of corn husks, and the entire collection of the Colonel's underwear – that resulted in disciplinary action, she was demoted. From what I hear though, it was one hell of a night.

Char and I had managed to do some astounding work and take out some very difficult targets in our years together. She was the sister I never knew I wanted and I was the pain in the ass that made her get shit done. As different as we were, we worked perfectly together and we were practically attached at the hip, even on our furloughs we would take mini vacations together.

We were actually scheduled for a two week R&R coming up in the next few days and we had both decided that Italy would be a great place to tour. She had picked a few small towns that she wanted to visit – something about the bigger cities being inauthentic – and I had picked a few of the more historical sites to visit. I couldn't begin to wrap my head around some of the ancient architecture we would see. I think I was more excited about this vacation than I had been about anything in a while and I think Char could notice. I blamed the excitement on the history we would see. She blamed the excitement on the men we might meet.

The first week flew by with us visiting various cities like Florence, Milan, and Rome. We had done shopping at boutiques, we had seen cathedrals and churches, we had been to ancient sites all over, and we had done historical tours, and honestly if I had my way I would never want to leave Italy again! I loved every minute I spent in this beautiful country and I would hate to leave it. Perhaps after I'm retired I can settle here and own a vineyard or something. Not that I would know the first thing about owning a vineyard, but hey, a girl can dream.

Today we were visiting one of Char's picks on this Italian tour. It was a quaint little city called Volterra and I got a kick out of trying to roll my tongue properly to pronounce it. Char just thought I was an idiot and kept putting her hand on my mouth to shut me up. The city itself was set up like a medieval city would have been – or perhaps it just hadn't changed in thousands of years – I wasn't one to judge. It was interesting to see the large city wall that did actually incase the entire city within it and there was an actual castle sitting on a hill in the center. I could see the reason behind the extra height because you could see further out from the castle and be better prepared if a rival army showed up unexpectedly.

After we checked into the little hotel in the city, we took a quick walk around just to see what all was here. We happened upon a marketplace that sold everything from fine silk dresses to shoes to food and everything in between. It reminded me of the bazaars that Char and I visited from time to time in Afghanistan, although this one was much nicer and far more organized. While we were perusing through the marketplace, I happened to notice something out of the corner of my eye and as instinct dictated, I had to look.

I'm not sure if I ever came to regret that decision or not, but it would be a life-changing one. What I had noticed was a man, hiding in the shadows of a building about 50 yards away from us. He was huge! He was clearly the biggest man I'd ever laid eyes on at approximately 6 foot 8 and obviously built like a damn linebacker, but it wasn't what he looked like that had me on edge almost immediately, nor was it the fact that he was looking directly at me. No. It was what he _was_. Those red eyes stood out to me like damn beacons screaming at me to run and did I ever fucking want to, but I couldn't! I couldn't draw any more attention to myself and I certainly couldn't draw Char into this mess!

Oh shit! Char! How am I going to get us out of this?! Ok. Ok. Bella, think. It was roughly one o'clock in the afternoon and it was actually a really nice day outside, so that is where we'll stay. Outside. As long as we're in the sunlight, we'll be fine. So, there's really nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.

Yeah, keep telling yourself that.

"Char?" I ask trying to sound as nonchalant as I can with my heart pounding in my chest.

"Hmm?" She answers looking away from a beautiful ruby encrusted brooch that she was examining.

I looked at her a bit puzzled, "Are you seriously considering buying a brooch? What the hell would you wear it with?" I ask her bewildered and completely thrown off track.

"You never know, Bells. I could marry into high society one day and have to wear these things. Isn't it beautiful?" She asks.

"It is beautiful, but Char, honey, we're in the Army. The likelihood that you'll ever have to wear something like that is slim to none. Just leave it. You don't need it." I state with a huff.

"Some fun you are, Swan." Char deadpans.

"That's why you love me." I return in the same tone. "Anyway, before I got distracted, I wanted to ask if you have your Zippo on you?"

"Always, why? You wanna smoke?" Char asks.

"Yeah." I reply. "I'm getting a craving."

Char passed me the Zippo and her cigarettes and I lit one, took a drag, and shoved the lighter in my pocket where I could have easy access to it. I know smoking is bad for me, but frankly, I don't give a shit. I didn't smoke very much, but I was surrounded by it at the bases I was stationed at and the habit was one that I just picked up. The hit of nicotine did help calm me before and after a particularly difficult and stressful mission. This time however, the craving came from a different stress entirely and one that I hoped to take out at the first opportunity. Now I just had to figure out how to get to my target without a) revealing that I knew what he was and b) warning him of my intentions.

Shit. This wasn't going to go well. At. All.

I turned my head for a few minutes just pretending to look at the different items the next person had for sale and when I looked back up, the brick shithouse had friends. One was medium height, medium build, and all around mediocre and unimpressive as vampires go. The other two were slightly more terrifying even if they did look like children. The female had blonde hair that was pulled up into a tight bun on the back of her head. I'm not sure if it was a personal preference to keep it out of the way, or to make her look older; either way, it looked so tight that it was giving me a headache. The male looked like he could be her twin, but had dark brown hair and looked just as lethal. All four of them were wearing dark cloaks, almost black and they were obviously discussing something. When all four looked over at me, I knew _exactly_ what they had been discussing. Me.

Fuck.

Too late to play ignorant now.

"Char, we gotta go." I told her quietly.

She looks over at me questioningly, "What do you mean we've gotta go? I'm enjoying myself here, Bells! I don't wanna go back to the hotel yet." Char replies indignantly.

"Char, I'm serious. I'll explain as much as I can later, but right now we've gotta go." I reiterate as I see Shorty One and Mediocre move to my left and Shorty Two move off to my right. Brickhouse stays right where he's at.

"No. I'm not going anywhere. You can cut this portion of the trip short just because you don't think it's interesting enough, but I'm staying right here." Char states challengingly.

I take my eyes off of Brickhouse just long enough to look at Char and say, "Charlotte. If there has ever been a time in your life that you needed to trust me, it's now. We have to go."

There must have been something in my eyes that Char saw to make her believe me, because she says in a much quieter voice, "Ok. We can go, but you have to tell me why."

I drag her further into the sunlight to the center of the market where a beautiful fountain sits and look around for options. "I swear I will tell you, but we need to get out of here first."

I was trying to keep all four in my sights, but Brickhouse still screamed 'biggest threat' at me, so I chose to watch him more than the other three. Perhaps that assessment was due to his sheer size, but my gut told me to watch him more than the rest. However, that didn't keep me from noticing that Shorty One had planted herself halfway down an alleyway further into the city; Shorty Two was on my other side and directly across from Shorty One, keeping that alley secure and making sure we didn't run out of the city. I didn't see Mediocre anywhere, but I was guessing he would be stationed somewhere behind me.

Damn it! When the other three moved off, I knew exactly what they were trying to do. Box us in. Surround us. And they had fucking done it! I didn't know if I was more pissed off at them, or at myself for acting like a damn greenhorn. I had to get us out of here! Now! Like right the fuck now! I wasn't concerned with the 'why's' of the whole situation yet. I was more concerned about surviving it. Then I would ask the 'why's' and the 'who's' and the inevitable 'what if's', but only then. Only after I got us out of this mess.

"We're surrounded, Char." I tell her. "Please tell me you've found a way out of here."

"I don't think you're going anywhere ladies." Says a very sinister voice from behind me. Mediocre had made his move and approached us from behind, walking around the fountain to get to us. What I wasn't expecting was for the area of the marketplace that he had come from to be covered. I was so caught up in my fear that I was thinking in two dimensions and had completely missed the banner hanging over the alley where Shorty Two was standing. That banner provided just the right amount of shade for Mediocre to get the drop on us. Shit. I fucked up. Badly.

"Who the fuck are you?" Charlotte asks. "And why would we stay here when you're obviously being a creepy motherfucker?"

Mediocre looks a bit shocked, but it quickly passes. I took the distraction Char provided me and reached into my pocket, grabbed the Zippo, and flicked it open, and shoved it right into his mouth when he went to answer her. It was a stupid move, but it was the only one I had and I was gonna take it. He lit up like a Christmas tree and started burning from the inside out.

"Into the fountain! Now!" I commanded Char and bless her, she didn't hesitate before nearly diving headfirst into that fountain as I tried to maneuver around Mediocre to get out of the way of the burning vamp. I didn't dive in, but I did manage to get most of me out of the way before he turned to ash right before my eyes.

I turned back to Char and said, "Other side of the fountain! Out!" and we were off running through the marketplace, completely drenched, and terrified.


	5. Chapter 5

**Felix POV**

I was hanging around the marketplace today because I was bored. I hadn't had a new mission come my way in weeks and staying in the castle all day was beginning to wear on my nerves. I felt like a caged animal and it was a feeling that I despised. I had to get out of there before I destroyed yet another room. Which is how I found myself here. People watching.

Watching these humans buy and sell their wares can keep me entertained for a little while, but I was sure I'd find another means of occupying my time once Gianna finished her shift at the castle. It was very sunny today so I had to hide in the shadows of buildings and people watch instead of sitting in my favorite spot near the fountains that took up the center of this courtyard. I wasn't paying particular attention to anyone, just minding my own business, when I heard a heart racing. Normally humans don't get that excited over wares unless they're being proposed to, so I scanned the crowd for the happy couple.

What I found instead surprised me. There was a short blonde woman and a taller brunette woman standing at a merchant's booth and the brunette was staring at me. Normally I can understand the look a human gets when they see one of us. It's all in the eyes. The pupils dilate, the eyes widen, and they all look a bit dazed. They're usually one of two things at that point; frightened or extremely turned on. I'm no empath, but those are the two emotions that I constantly see in humans when they see me. I've had centuries to learn them.

This look was neither of those. This look was a mixture of fear and…anger? I wonder what that's about, not that I should care in the least. When the brunette asked for her friend's lighter, I knew something was amiss. She put it in her own pocket instead of giving it back to her friend, which could mean she's a common thief, or it could mean something much worse for me. Not that I should be scared of a silly human girl, far from it. I'm Felix Volturi for Zeus' sakes. I wouldn't even have to try to take her out. It would be a mere thought to wait until she came closer, then snap her neck. Simple. I wouldn't drain her within the city walls unless I wanted to be ripped apart and burned, but it would be nothing for me to end her. She is no threat to me.

My thoughts surrounding this brunette are cut off when a shrill ringing pierces my ears. Damn these infernal cellular phones!

"What?" I ask angrily.

"Geez, what crawled up your ass?" Demetri asks unfazed.

"Nothing. Why did you call me?" I snap.

"Just to tell you to watch out for the Twins and Santiago. They're bored and headed your way. You know how they enjoy starting shit just for entertainment." Demetri warns.

"I'll keep an eye on them." I say as I hang up the phone.

"You wouldn't be talking about us, would you Felix?" Jane asks sweetly as she emerges from the alley next to me with Alec and Santiago following behind her.

"Who else could I possibly be talking about, Jane?" I ask annoyed. "It's not like you didn't hear the conversation anyway, so what excuse would I have to lie?"

"Fair enough." Jane replies calmly.

Our conversation is halted when we hear the brunette I've been watching tell her friend that they had to go. I could see the blonde getting angry with her friend, but the brunette wasn't backing down. I knew then that the brunette knew what we were. How? I had no idea, but I wanted to find out.

"Jane," I state pointing to the women, "those two women, there. The brunette knows what we are. I want them brought before the kings to have them questioned."

"It's against the law for a human to know of us. Are you sure?" Jane asks.

"Yes. I've been watching them for some time. The brunette has dealt with our kind before, so don't underestimate her. I want them both brought to the castle immediately. I'll inform Aro." I reply.

I watch as Jane and Santiago head one direction and Alec heads the other. They were using a very old, but very effective hunting trick and the humans were falling right into it. They thought the sun would cover them, and normally, they'd be right. However, they couldn't see that Santiago had a clear path to them and was behind both of them before they knew it.

The brunette was a lot more informed about our kind than I had thought she'd be. It took her seemingly no time at all before she had shoved her lighter in Santiago's mouth and made for the fountain. She didn't go under, though. She made sure he burned before heading off into the alley across from mine. I hated to admit that although I was impressed with her quick actions, I wasn't at all sorry about Santiago's loss. He was a pain in the ass anyway and practically useless.

I looked over at Jane and she had a puzzled and horrified expression on her face and Alec was just pissed off.

"Jane! Why didn't you drop her before she burned Santiago?" I heard Alec reprimand his sister from across the marketplace.

"I tried! I swear! It just didn't work!" Jane nearly screeched in indignation.

"Well, what are you two standing around for?" I ask irked. "Go get them and take them to the throne room!"

They both took off to hunt the two girls while I made a call. "Hello?" The other voice on the line sounded positively bored, but I knew something that would perk him right up.

"Aro, it's Felix. I'm going to need you and your brothers in the throne room within the hour. I have information you're going to need." I replied.

"We'll meet you there." Aro said before he disconnected the call. Now all I had to do was wait.

 **Caius POV**

I was sitting in the gardens with my beautiful Athena in my arms, listening to her go on and on about an Opera that she, Sulpicia, Chelsea, and Corin had all been to last night in Rome when Afton came barging in shouting for me. "My Lord, Caius!"

"What is it Afton, and why must you shout so?" I ask exasperated. I was rather enjoying the time I was spending with my mate. I didn't get to spend as much time with her recently as I would like to and these moments where we just got to be alone were far too few.

"Lord Aro needs to see you in the throne room immediately, sir!" Afton relays.

I turn to my beautiful mate and tell her, "I'm sorry, my dear. My brother calls. I will finish hearing all about your tale when I return to you after whatever business he has for me is resolved."

"Do not apologize to me, Caius." Athena replies. "You are a busy man and you have a kingdom to run. Just make sure you come back to me soon." She kisses me sweetly and then releases me to my Kingly duties.

It takes me no time at all to get to the throne room where Marcus and Aro are waiting for me. Marcus looking as bored as ever, but Aro has a bit of a twinkle in his eyes that I haven't seen in quite some time. This is either going to be very good news, or very bad news. Either way, it's a change from the boredom that we've all been feeling recently.

"What is the meaning of this summons, Aro?" I question.

"Felix called." Aro states unperturbed.

"And that's cause for you to demand my presence here? I was spending time with my mate, Aro!" I lament as I take my seat on the empty throne.

"This matter requires your presence, Caius. I swear that you can go back to Athenodora as soon as our business here is completed." Aro replies serenely.

It's during times like these that I really wonder if being a King is really worth all of the figurative headaches that come with the title. There are some days that I would like to take a decade or so off and tour the world with Athena so I can relax, but the likelihood of that happening is nil. I'm needed here and my mate is ever patient and understanding of that fact. Aro, of course, loves being a King. There's nothing that makes him happier and nothing seems to stress him out in regards to the job. It almost seems as though he was born into it. Marcus, ever the scholar, only remains King because we need a third on the throne to sway decisions when Aro and I inevitably argue over something. As depressed as he is, he's still one of the three faces of the Volturi and as such he has quite the loyal set of followers and we can't see ourselves ever replacing him without suffering consequences.

"So, what did Felix have to say?" I ask.

"It was a rather short conversation, but he just said that he needed all three of us here and that we would need some information that he has." Aro replied simply.

"He didn't say anything else?" I ask.

"No."

I can't help but roll my eyes at his blithe reaction to his general lack of answers. If Felix had called me, I would have gotten much more out of him than he's willing to give Aro. As annoying as Aro's quirks can be, and they are many, he does tend to have a flair for the dramatic that grates on my nerves and can be more of a hindrance than anything. This is one of those times that I can almost feel his excitement at learning the information Felix has for us and the various ways he might be able to obtain it.

We only have to wait a few minutes before Felix, Jane, Alec and two struggling humans are brought before us.

"What is this, Felix? A snack?" Aro asks amused.

"If so, it's not much of one, now is it, Aro?" I ask looking over the girls. They are pretty little things, but there's something about them that piques my curiosity. I'm not sure if it's the way they hold themselves or the general lack of fear they have, but I can tell these two are going to liven up the place.

"I know who you are." The brunette that Alec was holding states calmly.

"A human that knows what we are is against the law, my dear." Aro chides.

"I didn't say that I knew _what_ you were, although I clearly do. I said I know _who_ you are, Aro." The brunette says defiantly. "Now if you wouldn't mind calling your goons off, I will be more than willing to tell you what all I know."

My brother seems a bit shocked about being called out by a human, but I was beginning to have an inkling of respect for her. She comes into our city, knows not only what, but who we are and states all of this without one hint of fear.

"Who are you, girl?" I ask.

"My name is Captain Isabella Swan. This," she says nodding to the other woman, "is Lieutenant Charlotte Winchester and you," she says looking at me, "must be Caius. Which must mean the vamp to my far left is Marcus. The Kings of the vampire world. I would bow, but with your goon here holding me as tightly as he is, it seems I can't at the moment." she says with a hint of attitude.

"Jane, Alec. You can let them go. They aren't going anywhere." Aro says.

"Where is Santiago?" Marcus asks.

"I burned him." Isabella responds without hesitation. "He, along with these three brutes surrounded us and I defended myself the only way I could."

"How do you know so much about us, dear?" Aro asks.

"The Cullen's." Isabella replies scathingly.

"You don't seem to be a fan, young Isabella." I reply.

"I'm not. In fact, I would rather not see them ever again." She answers.

"I would like to see what you know of them." Aro states standing and flitting over to where Isabella is standing. She doesn't even flinch at his proximity and holds her head up high as he stands before her. I'm really liking this little spitfire.

"What do you need from me?" Isabella asks.

"Just your hand, my dear. I promise you I won't hurt you." Aro responds.

She places her hand in his and he closes his eyes to gather the information he seeks. After a few moments, he opens his eyes and says, "I see nothing."

"She must be a shield, Aro." Marcus states quietly.

"Let's see what information you have divulged to dear Charlotte." Aro states as he moves to her. She visibly flinches away from him, but holds her ground as she places her hand in his. "Ah," he states after a moment, "dear Charlotte has been told what we are, but is loathe to believe anything. In fact, she feels Isabella here is quite off her rocker and isn't quite sure that she isn't dreaming right now."

"I assure you that this is no dream, Charlotte." I state to her.

"Thanks, for the vote of confidence, Char." Isabella states coolly.

"Well, what the hell am I supposed to think? You tell me vampires exist and we're being hunted by them? Honestly it sounded like a bad teen angst novel." Charlotte replies angrily.

"Ladies, before this comes to blows, I need more information. Isabella, you said that you found out about us from the Cullen's. How do you know them?" Aro asks.

So Isabella tells us about her Junior year of high school and how she had gone to Forks, Washington to live with her father after her mother got re-married. She told us about seeing Edward for the first time and how she thought she had fallen in love with him. She continued her story and told us about meeting the entire family and about how close she felt to all of them and about a painting that Carlisle had in his office of the Volturi Kings and that was how she knew us on sight. She then told us about a baseball game that had happened where 3 nomads, Victoria, James, and Laurent had wanted to play with the Cullen's but after her scent was blown James' way, he decided on another game all together and had made her his new target. She ran with Jasper and Alice to Phoenix, Arizona and was tricked by James into meeting her at a ballet studio where he tortured and bit her. When the Cullen's showed up, Jasper and Emmett destroyed James while Edward sucked the venom out of her wrist and Carlisle tried his best to patch her up before heading to the nearest hospital. She never found out what happened to Laurent or Victoria.

At a birthday party thrown by Alice for Isabella several months later, she ended up getting a paper cut and Jasper attacked her which caused Edward to throw her into some crystal plates and glasses which just cut her further. Carlisle patched her up again once everyone left the house and a few days later, Edward broke up with her stating that she wasn't good enough for him and that she was just a distraction. It mentally broke her and her father sent her to a military academy to try and help get her back to some semblance of her old self. She enjoyed it so much that she chose the military life as a career and never looked back.

I was taken in by her story. I knew that there was no lie in what she told and I could see even her friend Charlotte did not know of any of this about her past. I was drawn to this girl and I was concerned by what the Cullen's had done to her. They broke her. It wasn't her fault that supernatural creatures lived amongst her, but she paid the price for falling in love with someone that was obviously not meant for her.

"That is quite the story, Isabella." Aro remarks after she's done.

"It's the truth." Isabella states calmly.

"All these years you've kept that secret. All these years and you didn't tell me?" Charlotte accuses.

"You didn't believe me when I told you vampires were real, Char. What was I supposed to do when I knew no one would believe me?" Isabella asks.

"Well," Aro begins, "you know the punishment for a human knowing of our existence, yes?"

"Yes." Isabella replies resigned. "I'm either changed, or I die. The choice is yours to make, not mine to request."

"That is true, but if you could make a request and have it be considered, what would it be?" I ask her.

"I would chose to be changed, Caius but only if Charlotte changes with me." Isabella responds.

"Why would you choose that fate over dying?" Marcus asks.

"I've never felt in sync with humanity. It was only after I met the Cullen's that I truly felt like their world was where I belonged."

"And why would you request the same for your friend?" I ask.

"She has been more than a friend to me for years. She is more like the little sister I never thought to ask for and I would be inconsolable if she was no longer with me." Isabella replies.

"Give us a moment to confer, ladies." Aro states as he leaves the throne room with Marcus and I on his heels.

We don't go far before Aro turns to me and says, "A shield, Caius! An actual shield! Can you believe it? I really would love to have her changed. She would become a wonderful asset to us! Especially since she took out one of our own guard as a human! I can't wait to see what she'll be like when she's more durable!"

"She will not agree unless she sees Charlotte changed. Their bond is extraordinary in its intensity, but I also see a different bond forming, too." Marcus relates.

"A different bond? Explain." I reply.

"You are impressed by her, Caius. She has intrigued you with her strength, determination, lack of fear, and honesty and I see a bond growing with you, Isabella, and Charlotte. I can't identify what it is yet, but it's certainly there." He replies.

"That settles it, then!" Aro retorts. "Caius, you will change the girls! We haven't had newborns in the castle for decades! This will certainly make for an interesting year."

"Then you need to find a way to stage their deaths, Aro. We don't want them going AWOL and having their pictures posted everywhere for the next few years. We have to find a way to kill them off." I reply.

"I'll handle that part." Marcus responds.

"Alright. Let's go tell them our decision." Aro states almost giddy with excitement.


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm so sorry its taken me so long to update this story! August is always a hellish month for me, but never fear, I am writing more for this! Thank you to all of you who have reviewed and favorited my story! It really makes writing so much easier when I know others are enjoying it just as much as I am!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **BPOV**

I couldn't believe that I was standing in the Volturi stronghold. I thought I had made it to safety, when we ran out of that fountain and down the alley, but I was very very wrong. We started running back to the hotel, but I had forgotten that their sense of smell far surpassed ours and Shorty One and Shorty Two were waiting for us when we arrived. It was only a matter of time before we were caught and brought here. I had tried to explain to Char before we got to the hotel exactly what was hunting us, including showing her the scar on my wrist to illustrate the severity of how fucked we were, but she refused to believe that the supernatural existed and she thought I'd lost my mind. That was about the point in which we reached the hotel and noticed we weren't alone anymore. I was an idiot and I got Char mixed right up in this with me.

"Char, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but would you have honestly believed me before now?" I ask.

"No." She replies. "I would have thought you'd lost your fucking mind."

"I'm sorry that I got you into this mess. Whatever happens though, we're doing this together. Ok?" I said.

"I kinda hate you right now, Swan." Char seethes.

"Yeah, I kinda hate myself right along with you." I reply morosely. "Like I said, I didn't want to get you involved in this mess and I'm sorry that you're paying such a heavy price for my mistakes."

I could tell that she knew I was being sincere in my apology, but that didn't lessen the anger she held towards me. Frankly, I deserved her anger and anything else she had to dish out at me and once she got the opportunity, I wouldn't expect her to take it easy on me.

"You know, this isn't exactly how I wanted to go out, but if I have to die with anyone, I'm glad it's you, Swan." Char states honestly. "That doesn't mean I'm not still fucking pissed off, because I sure as shit am! It just means that I'm glad I'm not alone."

"I'm glad you're with me too, bitch." I reply smirking slightly.

We don't wait long before the Kings come back out and sit back on the dais. "We have discussed the options available to us and we have decided that you both will be changed." Aro states proudly.

"Might I inquire as to who exactly is going to be doing the changing?" I ask.

"That would be me." Caius replies.

"Alright." I state confidently. "Let's get this over with. I do have a request that Char be bitten first so I know she's changing while I change."

"I can honor that request." Caius replies. "Follow me, ladies and we'll get this done quickly."

We follow Caius out of the throne room and down several halls before coming to a set of ornately carved double doors. "This will be your room for the duration of your stay here." Caius states simply and opens the doors.

The sight before us is extravagant. Dark stained wood floors greet us as soon as we walk in and to the right, we notice there is a common area with a flat screen television, pale couch, two dark wood stained desks to match the floor, an extremely large bookcase to match the desks, and a very modern and high quality radio all sitting on pale carpeting that looks like it would be heaven to run your toes through. On the left side of the room are two bedrooms. The first bedroom closest to the doors is a cream colored bedroom with a king-sized white four-poster bed with gold sheets and a white comforter with gold trim. This en suite bathroom houses a white Jacuzzi tub and a standing tile shower that has gold tiles placed in random patterns to match the bedroom.

The second bedroom has light blue walls with a dark-stained wood king-sized canopy bed with dark green sheets and a dark blue comforter and also has an en suite bathroom, but this one has the biggest claw-foot tub I have ever seen. It has to be six feet long and three feet deep at least, which means that I would be able to lie flat with every part of my body covered by water. This bathroom also has a stand-alone shower, but the tile colors match this bedroom and are less randomly placed. I could see myself living here for an unknown period of time.

"Holy shit!" I hear Char say. "I'm calling the white room!"

"That's fine. I'm happy with the blue!" I call back.

"Don't get too comfortable here yet, girls." Caius responds. "Although this _will_ be your room eventually, you will have to wait out your newborn year in the Newborn Suite that we had built."

"Newborn Suite? What is that?" Char asks.

"It will be your room until you learn to control your new strength and temper that comes with being a vampire." Caius replies. "We don't want you destroying the place in a fit of rage."

"Fair enough." I state. "Let's get this show on the road, then." I respond.

Caius then leads us back down through the castle until he gets to a more secure-looking door. "This is where we house our newborns." He states before throwing open the doors and leading us into the most barren and unfriendly room I've ever seen. It has concrete walls, five reinforced steel beds with concrete mattresses lining the left side of the room, and absolutely nothing on the walls. It's very gray and I immediately hate it.

"This place looks way too clinical for my liking. It's almost like it's been sterilized, but not at the same time." Char notes.

"I don't like it either." I reply.

"No one likes it, but it's necessary. Neither of you will be able to control your own bodies, nor the strength that comes with them, so this is where you must stay until you can." Caius reiterates. "Now, I want both of you girls to sit on a bed and move your hair to one shoulder so I can have easier access to your arteries."

Both Char and I pick a bed and sit down on it. It's by far the most uncomfortable thing I've ever had to sit on, but I can understand the necessity.

Caius takes a seat on Char's 'bed', looks at her and says, "Charlotte, I'll start with you, per Isabella's request. I will tell you that these next three days will be some of the most painful days that you will ever experience. It will feel like your entire body is on fire, but no matter what you can't smother the flames. Be brave and be prepared." I see Char take a deep breath in and out before she nods to Caius and he bites into her jugular vein to pump his venom into her system. She starts screaming before her body lies back fully on the mattress as the venom works its way in.

Caius then moves to me and says, "Isabella, you know the pain of the venom. This will be much the same, but also much worse. The longer the venom is in your system, the hotter it will become. It is not until the last day that you will feel any sort of relief. Be brave and be prepared." I take a breath just like Char did and Caius bites into my jugular vein. I can feel the familiar yet foreign feeling of the venom burning through my system, but Caius was right. I know the feeling, so I can hold in my screams more than Char can. I lie back on the 'mattress', close my eyes, and pray that these three days will pass quickly.

I lost count of how long I've been burning for.

The pain of the burn is all-consuming.

All thought ceases as I try vainly to stop the incessant burning.

How can anyone survive this? How am I supposed to survive this?

I know time is passing, but I can't make myself wonder how long I've been enduring this. I can't wonder how much longer I have to burn.

I was finally able to think around the pain eventually, but the burning was still in the forefront of my mind. I hear a voice telling me to remember. _Remember what?_ I wonder.

The same voice tells me to remember family. _Family_ conjures up images in my mind of a middle-aged woman with brown hair and an inner youth in her eyes. One who laid in a hospital bed with tubes surrounding her. Renee. _Mom_. Another image permeates my mind. A dark-haired man with a severe expression, but kind brown eyes that seem so _familiar_ and a 1970's mustache that never went out of style for him. Charlie. _Dad_.

I remember both are dead now and I'm alone.

 _No._ I think to myself. _Not alone._ Yet another image slams into my mind and this one I know immediately is Charlotte. My best friend and now, my sister.

Other images begin to imprint themselves on my mind the longer I remember and these have a distinctly different effect on my mind. I see a beautiful bronze-haired boy with yellow eyes and a smile that makes my heart falter. _Edward_. The boy who left me. The boy who broke me. The boy who said I wasn't good enough. The boy who said I was nothing more than a distraction.

I see a petite dark-haired girl with those same yellow eyes who said we were going to be the best of friends. _Alice_. My brain reminds me as I remember she used to dress me in expensive clothes and how she would make me sit in front of a mirror for hours as she made me 'beautiful'. She didn't care that I didn't like it.

I'm inundated with more images of yellow-eyed people. A blond man who was a father-figure to me, but left when I needed him the most. _Carlisle_. A woman with caramel colored hair and a heart-shaped face who was a better mother to me than Renee ever was, but she left me, too. _Esme_. A huge dark-haired man who was intimidating to anyone that didn't know him, but was once a brother to me. He was a big kid at heart and had dimples when he smiled. _Emmett_. A blonde goddess of a woman who was impressively full of herself and always looked down on me. _Rosalie_.

The one that hurt the most was an image of an astonishingly beautiful blond man with curly hair cut to his chin. I had never really gotten to spend much time with him. He was quiet and always on the fringes of the rest of the family, but he protected me. I remember his voice, a faint and pleasant southern twang as he says "You are worth it." And I could see in his eyes that he meant it. I remember the last time I saw him. The one time he rushed me…a papercut I believe…but he wasn't going to attack me, he wanted to protect me again. _Jasper_.

All of a sudden, the physical pain of the burn is a welcome feeling. It cleanses me from the emotional pain like a baptism of fire.

More time passes and I try to remember more from my life. I finally remember Jake, Sam, Paul and the wolf pack. I remember Phil and why I moved to Forks. I even remember some of my human friends like Angela, Jessica, and Mike.

I can feel the fire receding from my fingers and toes now and I can hear Char's pained cries have all but ceased. Perhaps her change is over? Perhaps she's screamed herself hoarse? I'm not sure, although I'm positive I'll find out soon.

The pain is slipping from my elbows now and my heart feels hotter. I can almost see the flames battling each beat of my heart. It makes me curious as to which one will win.

I can hear breathing in front of me and I can smell something that reminds me of sandalwood and sage coming from that direction. That must be whoever was down here watching our change. To my right, I hear short, gasping breaths that remind me of a marathon runner and I smell oranges and crème and I'm almost positive that's Char.

The pain has moved out of my arms and legs and has concentrated everything it has left on my torso and heart, which sounds very much like a helicopter's rotors. I can feel my body rising as my heart beats faster and the pain becomes even more intense, but it doesn't last long before my body slumps down again and the beating finally stops.

The pain itself hasn't stopped though, just moved into the back of my throat. It feels as though I've got a severe case of strep, but I know what that feeling is. I'm thirsty. That thought has me opening my eyes and what I had seen only a few days ago doesn't hold a candle to my sight now. I can see _everything_. I can see the individual grains of the cement I'm lying on, I can see the dust motes in the air and I can hear the humming of the lights above my head.

"Isabella." A calm voice says. "Can you hear me?"

I don't recognize the voice that I hear. It sounds like the notes played on a church organ, but without the resonance. I sit up to see who spoke to me and it was almost like I didn't have to put any thought into the action at all. I wanted to sit up, and I did. I felt as though I should have been disoriented, but I wasn't. I could see everything.

"Woah." I manage to say. "That's gonna take some getting used to."

I hear a chuckle over to my right and I'm astonished at what I see. A man - with hair so blond it almost looks white - stands about ten feet away from me just watching my reactions. This must be the owner of the sandalwood and sage scent.

"You," I begin, but I'm shocked by the sound of my voice. It's not as low as I remember it. In fact, it sounds a lot like bells and I love it. I try again, "You stayed."

"Yes, Isabella. I've been here the whole time. Making sure you and your sister are well taken care of through your change." The blond replies.

"I know you, but my memories are a bit fuzzy." I state annoyed. "Who are you?"

"I am Caius Volturi." He states simply.

"Oh!" I nearly gasp. The memories returning to me are difficult to make out. It looks like I'm seeing things through a veil, but I remember Caius. I remember being dragged to the castle and I remember being led to this room for my change.

I look over to the other occupied bed in this room and notice that a petite blonde woman is sitting in a position similar to mine, but she's looking all around the room in wonder and awe. She's the one that has the oranges and crème scent. So that must be a new and improved Charlotte. She looks similar to the way she did, but her features are sharper than they were. I also think she might have grown an inch or so, too and her hair seems to be longer.

"Char?" I ask tentatively. She turns her bright red eyes on me immediately and a growl rips through her throat. Caius is right beside her in an instant and when he whispers something to her, her eyes look back up to the ceiling and her growling stops.

"I wouldn't try to get her attention right now if I were you, Isabella." Caius replies.

"Why? Is she alright?" I ask in a near panic.

"The venom affects everyone differently. She seems to be a bit more like a normal newborn than you are; which means she's very volatile, but she's also confused about what all she's seeing, hearing, and smelling. She only woke about an hour before you, but in that hour the only thing she's done is growl and count the dust motes in the air. I've been trying to keep her calm by having her count those dust motes until you woke so we can get you both fed." Caius replies.

"I'm thirsty." I manage to get out as my hands go directly to my throat to put out the burning I feel there.

"Well, now that you both are awake, why don't we get you fed?" Caius replies as he walks over to the doors to our room.

I make to follow him, but something in my movements catches Char's attention and before I know what's happening, she's growling and leaping at me. I turn my head to assess the situation and notice that she's leaping directly for my head. I'm assuming to take it off, not that I don't deserve it for turning her into this, but it doesn't mean I'm going down without a fight. As she gets within arm's reach, I push my right hand toward her face and push it to the side to keep her teeth away from my neck, but I don't take the momentum that she tackled me with into account, so we both go rolling to the floor. I know better than to have her on top of me, so I use the momentum to roll us over until I'm straddling her stomach.

I have her head pinned under my right hand with her cheek almost digging into the concrete of the floor, while my left hand tries to grab one of her arms so she can't rip my head off. Meanwhile, I notice that Caius hasn't moved from his position near the door and seems to be watching the unfolding events with polite interest. Bastard.

"Charlotte!" I growl at her. "Enough! Stop attacking me and stop growling at me!"

I can hear that my words are having an effect on her, but she doesn't stop growling at me. Oh well, she's always been a stubborn bitch. I slowly ease up on the pressure of my right hand so she can turn her head to look at me.

"Bella?" she asks seeming to come back to herself a bit.

"Hey, Char." I reply. "You alright?"

"What happened to me?" she asks.

"I'll tell you about it later, but for now, we need to feed. That burning in your throat means you're thirsty. Do you want the burning to stop?" I ask.

She nods and I tell her, "Alright, I'm gonna let you up, but don't try to attack me again, ok?"

She nods again and I slowly move to let her off the floor. Once I'm standing, I hold my hand out for her to take and she grabs it before pulling herself up.

"You two ready to go?" Caius asks smirking.

"For now." I reply looking at Char.

Caius leads us down several hallways and through another set of doors before stopping in a huge stone room. There's nothing special about this room other than its sheer size. It has high windows to let in the natural light, but there's no adornments in this room at all. It's just a blank slate. "What is this place?" I ask.

"It's where we bring our newborns to feed." Caius replies. "I want you to leave Charlotte there and I want you to walk over to the other side of the room. There's another set of doors over there."

I do as he says and flit to the other side of the room and stand in front of the other set of doors. I only have to wait a few minutes before I hear the sound of feet walking my direction. Only a few seconds later, the doors in front of me have opened and four humans are tossed in at my feet.

I can hear the sound of their heartbeats and I can feel the warmth coming off their bodies, but those are only passing thoughts before I instinctively attack them. I reach out to the first human and immediately latch on to their neck as I pull the blood into my body. It's delicious. Once the first body is drained, I focus on the other three that are no longer where I remember them to be. It looks like they've tried to escape by running towards the other side of the room. They certainly aren't going to get far. Silly humans.

I give chase and am on them within moments. The second human I catch goes the same as the first, but the third and fourth I try to break their necks so they can't get away. Smart idea in theory, but not quite so easy in practice I note when I end up ripping one of their heads off completely, which not only pisses me off because of the loss of sustenance, but also earns me a literal blood bath; and the last one I just end up crushing everything in his neck. Humans really _are_ fragile.

I was halfway done finishing my last human when I felt a presence behind me. It was far too close for my liking, so I turned around and growled at the intruder. How dare someone interrupt me now! I was so angry that someone was trying to steal my meal that I reacted on instinct and something in my brain snapped. I just wanted whoever it was to get away. The next thing I know, following a "Woooaaahhh!" the presence is gone and I get to finish my meal in peace.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry this has taken so long to update! I didn't mean to leave you on that cliff.**

 **I didn't have power for a while due to Irma and wasn't able to write, but the moment I was able to write, I couldn't seem to write this story's chapters in order. I have several later chapters written, but for some reason I can't get the muse to let me write these in the order they need to be in. My apologies. However, the good news is that the muse has allowed me to write this next chapter, so that's a bonus!**

 **I own nothing.**

 **Caius POV**

Charlotte and Bella's first years as vampires were a bit rough. Not that I had expected anything different. Far from it. However, if my hair wasn't already white, they would have turned it grey by now.

Their first feeding once they awoke started off fairly well, I had taken them into the newborn feeding chambers and had allowed eight humans to be brought in. Four for each seemed like it would be an appropriate number for them both to be fairly lucid after they fed. Then we could begin teaching the girls what it meant to be a vampire and, after they gained some control, we would see if they had skill enough to add to the Guard.

Charlotte was feeding closest to me and she seemed a natural. She just latched right on to her victim's throat and sucked them dry in a matter of minutes. She was so quick about taking her victims down that they didn't even have a chance of escaping before she was on them.

Bella was another matter entirely. It seemed that she retained a bit of her humanity and didn't want her victims to suffer, but try as she might to end their suffering before it began, she only caused them and herself more in the long run. Although I was pleased to note that she did in fact have some sort of defensive gift, if my becoming airborne was any indication. It was my own fault because I got to close to her kill, but I was also extremely pleased that she would defend herself in that manner.

Once they were finished and I had the chance to speak to them, I realized that Charlotte had no memories of her human life. That was perfectly fine by me considering the less memories of her life she had, the less pain it would cause her to know that she had to leave it. Bella however still seemed to remember most of her human life. Once she was lucid enough, she had requested that Aro, Marcus, and myself keep her existence hidden from the Cullen's. She had no desire to see them and since we hardly ever saw the Cullen family, much less spoke with them, I saw no reason to deny this request.

Months flew by and not only did they steal the hearts of most of the Guard, but Aro and Marcus doted on them more than they did anyone else. They even managed to melt the cold hearts of Jane and Alec and kept my Athena and Aro's Sulpicia happy with their constant visits to the wives' tower. Even though they were – in essence – my children, I took a more fatherly approach with them and found that they respected my authority for it.

They eventually became more and more controlled in their movements and with their feedings. Bella finally stopped ripping her victims apart, but I suspect it had more to do with how Charlotte hunted than anything I might have said to her. It only took one feeding of Charlotte's that Bella happened to see for her to finally understand that she was causing more damage than necessary. She kept her feedings far cleaner after that.

It was only six months into their new life that they both came to me requesting to become part of the Guard and after discussing it thoroughly with my brothers, we decided that they would start training with Felix and Demetri the following day. They were both ecstatic and ran off to the wives' tower to tell Athena and Sulpicia the good news.

Once they started their training, I was surprised to find that their military bearing and muscle memory had stuck with them through the change. They were great students and learned very quickly. The training also gave them an outlet for any pent-up aggression or excess energy that they might have been experiencing from their change. I was pleased to see that they were far happier after training every day than they had been without it. That wasn't to say that they were unhappy before. They were quite happy before, but they were soldiers and they physically needed the training that we provided them.

We did test both girls for gifts, both offensive and defensive. Although Charlotte didn't have one, we knew Bella did. She took the opportunity to train it with Renata so she could learn to extend it out from herself as well as both Alec and Jane, who were shockingly happy to provide their services. Charlotte was often the guinea pig in these training sessions, but Felix, Demetri, Aro, and myself were all subjected to guinea pig status as well at one point or another. Bella did very well and could eventually shield herself and ten others at a distance of twenty yards and I was thrilled with her progress. I was sure that the older she became in this life, the more she would learn about her gift, but I wasn't willing to push her any further than necessary.

They also managed on more than one occasion to pull pranks unsuspecting members of the Guard. Boredom with these two didn't bode well at all. Charlotte just had a way of saying things to you that would get you to do whatever she wanted. It wasn't a gift per se, but she just had a way with words that could make even the most stubborn of vampires re-think their choices. It was during one of Charlotte's conversations with Felix that she convinced him to go into her room for…something. I was never told what. However, when he returned to Charlotte, he was covered from head to toe in pink cotton candy and he was obviously nowhere close to happy about it, but whatever she said to him must have had some sort of effect, because he never once tried to prank her back.

Jane was next on their "Hit List" and somehow wound up with blue hair for a month. I honestly thought both Bella and Charlotte had signed their own death warrants with that one, but Jane took it in stride, actually laughing at their boldness, and swore up and down she would get them back one day. I honestly think Alec may have also been involved in some way, but I was never able to prove it.

They even tried their hand at pranking the Kings as well. I knew I was in the clear, but Aro and Marcus weren't quite so lucky. Sulpicia actually assisted in Aro's prank, otherwise it never would have happened, but exchanging his entire wardrobe for clown clothes was a fairly entertaining thing to witness. Especially after he came running after them in a red, white, and blue starred vest, gold parachute pants, and red clown shoes that were four sizes too big. That is an image I will never forget.

Marcus' prank was a little more subtle, but still just as funny. They got him with a whipped cream pie to the face when he was distracted looking over some ancient scrolls in the library. Surprisingly, all they did was knock on the library door, he did the rest by opening it. He swore he was too distracted to smell it, but for a week after that he couldn't smell anything other than whipped cream.

With many of the fun times, there were also difficult times. Such is life, I suppose, but we take the good with the bad. Both Bella and Charlotte had their fair share of newborn episodes and tantrums. Charlotte's weren't quite so bad. I believe the worst thing she did that first six months was nearly decapitate and burn Felix for suggesting that she focus a bit more on her reactions to fighting multiple opponents at once. After that, I couldn't find a single Guard willing to spar with her until she apologized to Felix for her behavior. She seemed to gain a better handle on her emotions after that.

Bella, as per the norm, was another matter. Her physical shield would pop out at moments that she couldn't control her reactions, which was understandable and expected. However, she knew that she should have a better grasp on her own shield, so when she gave herself more complicated and harder goals to achieve and failed at meeting her own expectations, she would explode.

One of those explosions resulted in the entirety of the training facility to be completely demolished when she let her frustrations out and they manifested in her physical shield. She buried most of my soldiers in the rubble and although we can't get hurt from falling debris, the guilt ate her up after that. I think from the experience that she had previously with the Cullen's; she was under the impression that she should have had control regardless of her newborn status.

I had to take her off to the side to have a serious discussion with myself and my brothers before she realized that everything she was going through was completely normal. It was Marcus' suggestion that she see things from a human newborn's perspective. As a human, she had to learn a multitude of things like how to walk, talk, and control her temper, read, write, and a slew of other things. Just because she knew how to handle these things as a human didn't mean that she knew how to handle them as a vampire. That's what this whole newborn phase was about. It was a chance for her to learn and make mistakes.

It was a shock to her for us to inform her that no one was perfect, not even us as old as we were, and she needed to realize that even after her newborn stage was complete she might have moments that make her feel like her life is out of control. However, that's what her family and her sister were here for. To help her in any way that she needed. Every member of the Guard had been where she was now and they all remembered with perfect clarity how out of control they felt while going through the same thing. She just had to be willing to let us help her.

Once she came to terms with that, things got a little calmer. Bella worked a lot with Renata on her shield and how to manipulate it the way she wanted it to be. Her mental shield was a bit of a relief for her since it seemed to do whatever it was she wanted, but her physical one was a bit more difficult.

About nine months into this new life, she gained control over both and it seemed to lift a weight off of both her and Charlotte, who had seen Bella's internal struggle for far too long. The camaraderie and companionship that Bella and Charlotte shared was something of an anomaly within the castle. They seemed to need each other almost as much as mates would and were always within mere feet of each other, however when I asked Marcus about their connection, all he told me was that they were not mated, but they had a closer bond than any siblings he'd ever seen, including the twins. The bonds between them were bonds of family, friendship, love, devotion, and something that he couldn't quite place and those bonds were interwoven with each other from one to the other more tightly than the bonds that kept the Kings together for millennia on end.

Eleven months into this life, the girls got their first opportunity to go on a mission and they were both so excited about the prospect of getting involved in being real members of the Guard that their excitement was nearly palpable. We had received reports from various covens on the island continent of Australia that had all the makings of a rogue vampire. This vampire's kills were anything but subtle – with limbs of various victims being found scattered all over the cities – and the authorities were beginning to think this wasn't the work of an active serial killer, but something far more sinister. The covens that had requested our help had all denied knowledge of the transgressor, but I was beginning to believe that someone was lying and just not keeping their progeny under control. The mission that my Guard was given was a simple one; find the rogue vampire causing havoc in Australia and bring them back to be tried for their crimes. Simple and straight forward, right? Not quite as simple as I had hoped.

After two weeks of chasing this vampire all over the continent and through the Australian Outback, he was finally caught. It turned out that this specific vampire had a gift and one that under different circumstances Aro would have probably wanted. He was able to slow time. That little gift worked in his favor until Bella thought to use her shield on him. Unfortunately it was only after Charlotte had managed to lose an arm that Bella had thought to use her shield at all. It turned out that once the rogue attacked Charlotte and removed her arm, Bella responded without thinking and threw her shield at him knocking him down and holding him until she could get Charlotte patched back up. Once the rest of my team had the rogue secure and Charlotte had fed, they made their way back home.

I was infuriated when the time for the trial came and the rogue was read by Aro. I knew I was supposed to play the hard-ass when it came to formal affairs like this, but this time I truly felt like it as Charlotte and Bella stood to my left and the memory of how Charlotte's arm looked when she got back to the castle played over and over in my mind. Aro looked disgusted as he finished reading the rogue and allowed myself and Marcus to hear what he had read. The rogue's name was Anthony and he was unapologetic and proud of what he was and how he left his victims. I hadn't heard of violence for violence sake since the Southern Wars in America that we had put a stop to after they had gone on for over a century, and this vampire would have fit right in. It wasn't even a second thought as I ripped his head from his shoulders and burned his body in front of him. I kept his head in a box for months afterwards as a warning to those who dared try something like this again. Charlotte was the one to destroy his head after she stopped becoming upset over the jagged scar that she saw between her left shoulder and her elbow. I honestly think that Bella had a lot to do with Charlotte becoming more comfortable with it, though.

As nervous as I was to have them in the middle of everything, both girls were welcome additions to the Guard and loved every second of getting to be soldiers again, but I did feel a sense of unease whenever they were sent on a mission. I loved them both dearly and they were a great source of pride for me and my Athena. They moved up through the ranks very quickly, even refusing my help to move up faster and choosing instead to move up in the ranks like a normal soldier, and within five years held their human titles as vampires in the Guard. I did have a feeling that Felix and Demetri enjoyed sharing the responsibility and the duties with the girls because it gave them a bit of a reprieve, though they never outright said so.

A part of me was worried that both Felix and Demetri would hate the girls for moving in on their turf, but I was glad to note that the opposite was true. Felix and Charlotte were basically like shadows to Demetri and Bella and the girls learned so much from them that eventually I could send out Bella and Charlotte as a second team to Demetri and Felix if necessary.

Most of the Guard got along really well with Charlotte and Bella, but there were a few that would have rather had their nails pulled out than work with the girls. Personally, I thought it was because those Guard members were stuck in their ways, but neither one of the girls really seemed to mind. They worked with who they could on whatever mission they were given. Most of the time they actually requested Jane's presence as a third member of their team, which shocked Jane the first few times, but she worked really well with Bella and Charlotte so I couldn't blame them for sticking with her as their choice.

In between the missions and their pranks, they did actually come up with a few other things to keep them occupied throughout their downtime. They insisted on taking the old unused Boiler Room below the training facility and repurposing it into a club of sorts. No humans were allowed down there and no outsiders unless by special invitation, but I was surprised at how excited the castle seemed to get at the idea of having a club inside the walls. Heidi even managed to get involved in decorating what the girls were calling the Blood Room. They had Alec setting up the stereo equipment along with any electronics that Charlotte said he would need. Jane and Bella spent weeks setting up what they called the Blood Bar, which had the treated blood from our labs infused with various liquors, wines, beers, and even champagne. It was a more preferred way of getting a bit drunk rather than drinking straight from a liquor bottle. Felix and Demetri added a bit more to this venture by adding a stage for live music in the north corner of the club, a loft with tables and chairs for people to congregate, and a luminescent dance floor that changed colors depending on the music. Corin and Chelsea were even involved and in charge of getting the club lighting just right.

I think the most impressive thing that they did in regards to their Blood Room was how they organized the music. Since most of us were from different eras and had varying tastes in music, they wanted to make it enjoyable for everyone. What they did to fix this potential problem was go to every member of the Volturi, be it royalty, soldier, or servant and ask them for their favorite decade of music and favorite era of clothing. Every member of the Volturi had to answer each inquiry and that answer was written down on a sheet of paper that was then laminated and cut to fit inside a hollow Bingo rolling cage. I don't know where they found Bingo cages, but they got a hold of two of them and repurposed them to be covered in plastic instead of the cage-like material that they had previously. The newly-dubbed Bingo wheels were separated depending on topic and each answer from each Volturi member was placed inside the wheels. It was up to one of the Kings to roll the Music wheel, one of us to roll the Clothing wheel, and the third to read them out. The music listed was the only music played that weekend at the Blood Room and the clothing was the only clothing allowed in.

I have to admit, some of the combinations were completely absurd and ridiculous, but I supposed that was the whole point. The castle was hearing laughter and having fun again and I couldn't see a downside to that. One Friday evening, when I pulled the 70's out of the Music wheel and Marcus pulled Clothing from the Renaissance era, we both felt the need to make an appearance at the Blood Room that Saturday night just to see with our own eyes how absurd the combination was. What really shocked me was to find out that Marcus liked Disco music. I didn't even think he was aware of it, but he was subtly dancing along with everyone else. It was only when he did the signature John Travolta Disco move in the middle of the dance floor that the entire club burst into applause for him. He goes back every weekend and hasn't yet missed an opportunity to get his groove on.

Aro wasn't surprising in his music choices. His were more classical based with the three B's, Beethoven, Bach, and Brahms and occasionally Mozart and Chopin. Any decade that was pulled between 1650 and 1850 was when you could find Aro at the Blood Room dressed in whatever ridiculous clothing era had been picked the afternoon previous. It was quite the sight to see him one night in bright neon clothing from the 1990's dancing a waltz to Vivaldi's _Le Quattro Stagioni_. It was times like this I was glad to have photographic memory.

I was more partial to music that had a bit of a beat to it. Athena and I were at the Blood Room more than Aro, but nowhere near as often as Marcus. I was relatively eclectic in my music tastes, but favored classic rock from the 1980's. Athena giggled uncontrollably the one night that genre was picked for both the Music and Clothing styles. She had to tease my hair into this ridiculous mess on the top of my head and she put me into a pair of skin tight leather leopard print pants that left very little to the imagination and a white jean jacket with white boots, forgoing any shirt completely. I think a little of my dignity died that night, but Athena, Bella and Charlotte loved it, so I sucked it up and had fun for their sakes. At least I looked the part.

During the Italian summers, things tended to get a bit boring for Charlotte and Bella, but within a year after starting the Blood Room they decided to add another bit of chaos into our lives by starting a yearly week-long scavenger hunt. This hunt however, was not your typical hunt. You had a week from the time the list was posted until the time the hunt ended to get as many items on the list completed as you could. Points were given as you completed these items and photographed them as proof. The Kings were the judges of the photographs and the ones to declare the ultimate winner at the end of the week. Most of the Volturi were also a part of this as well. Bella and Charlotte would go up to every member and ask them what their most embarrassing moment that they wanted to reveal was and the answers they got gave them some interesting ideas for this scavenger hunt.

One year they had an item on their list that required the hunter to go into a humans house while they were out, and start a load of dishes in the dishwasher if they had it (if not, then a load of laundry) and take a picture of the results a half hour in. You would not _believe_ the houses I saw covered in bubbles from a dishwasher or a laundry washing machine because the vamps involved didn't know how to use the appliance properly. Needless to say, I had each and every Volturi member involved stay and clean the mess before the humans came home and noticed something amiss.

Another year they had decided that Christmas in July was going to be a theme to that year's hunt. Again, it required breaking into the humans homes and decorate that house like it was set up for Christmas. They had to get a tree, decorate it accordingly, get presents, make a Christmas dinner, put up stockings, and get a fire in the fireplace going (again, if they had one). The humans that owned these houses were astonished at the gifts that they received as well as the home cooked dinner that awaited them and the decorations that lit up their homes. It was a truly amazing sight to behold, even if the food wasn't always edible.

We had our hands full another year when "Make A Pig Fly" was an item on the list and we had several swine airborne that were very obviously unhappy about it, if the incessant squealing was any indication. Although, the ingenuity I saw in the various contraptions that were used to get the sows in the air made me realize that we needed to upgrade the technology that we had running the castle. Some of these devices could have put the entire Volturi computer system to shame. And they were just hauling pigs around. I could only imagine what we could use that knowledge for if it were put to better use.

All in all, I didn't regret changing the girls for a second. They filled our lives with happiness, love, light, and gave us an opportunity to improve upon how we lived our very long, and sometimes monotonous, lives.

 **AN: Thank you so much for sticking with me through this incredibly difficult chapter. The scavenger hunt at the end is based on GISHWHES if anyone was wondering. If you don't know what that is, then I am both relieved for you as well as saddened for you.**


	8. Chapter 8

**HOLY SHIT! I got two stories updated today! It's amazing.**

 **I still own nothing but the plot.**

 **BPOV**

Char and I had been vampires for about fifteen years now. My mental shield and my military experience had been more of a help than a hindrance to the Volturi, and both had helped to solidify my place as a valued member of the Guard in the Volturi hierarchy. My rank was on par with Jane and Alec, but Char's was more on par with Felix and Demetri. I still took orders when necessary, but was more often left to gather my own crew and head out on missions if needed.

Today I had gotten orders from Aro that a small coven had been getting a little out of hand in Russia. He wanted me to assess the situation and handle it the way I saw fit. Usually if I had to venture out of the castle, I would take Char with me. Her loyalty to me was unparalleled and she was an amazing soldier. I knew whatever foe we faced; she would always have my back no matter what. I would also bring Felix. It never hurts to have a wall of muscle at your disposal if need be. It tends to make a statement. I also decided to bring Jane with me. Her reputation preceded her and I may need her unique skills. Afton was the last of my crew simply because he volunteered.

The five of us, decked out in typical Volturi garb, headed north to Russia an hour after the order was given to go. We took the Volturi jet, although we could have run the distance, but it made transport of any prisoners we captured that much easier. I'm sure Felix wouldn't mind carrying a screaming, writhing, vamp over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes-for hundreds of miles-back to the castle, but I don't want him to have to bear that burden if he doesn't have to.

We land in St. Petersburg and proceed to run from the airport to the last location this coven was rumored to be in. Arkhangelsk was a city and administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, in the north of European Russia, and had a very unfortunate run-in with a coven of vamps that were very obviously making their presence known. Those types of vamps were usually either brand new and didn't know any better, or they did know better and just didn't care. Either way they were dangerous and I had to be on my guard.

We weren't in the city long before we found several places this coven could be hiding out. The only way we would be able to catch them off guard is by splitting up. I didn't like the option, but I didn't see any other and we didn't want this coven to be aware of our presence until we wanted them to be. Felix headed to an abandoned warehouse that was close to the epicenter of all of the recent commotion this coven had caused. Jane was sent the opposite direction to a neighborhood that was undergoing construction and would be a good place for the vamps to hang out while not causing chaos. Afton did a perimeter run around the city to see if this coven had ventured away from here, or if they were still located here. As for Char and I, we headed further into the city to see if the coven was trying to cause chaos there. Char wouldn't leave my side. Simply refused to. We were like two parts of the same being and had been for years, so sending her off by herself wouldn't work to either of our benefit. We would worry about each other too much to be productive.

About two blocks away from the city center, we hear commotion that can only be vampiric in nature. Char and I ducked into alleyways and skirted around buildings to get a better view of the situation. What we saw would have taken our breath away if we had needed to breathe.

Someone in the coven had taken to beating the side of a 7 story building to an absolute pulp - with people inside - while the others stood around, laughed, and tormented the innocent civilians that had tried to escape the tumbling structure. I called Felix, Afton and Jane immediately and let them know where we were and what this coven was up to. They replied they'd be with us soon enough. Char and I couldn't wait. It wasn't in us to leave innocent people at the mercy of something or someone so brutal.

We emerged from behind the building and I let my hood down so the other vampires present could see my face. "You know," I say speaking in Russian, "Volturi Law clearly states that this kind of activity is strictly forbidden."

One of the coven members, a tall man with blonde hair, looks to me and replies in English, "Volturi scum. We don't follow your rules. We have our own rules and we will do what we like."

"That kind of thinking is what got you into this mess, now I'm here to see it cleaned." I reply.

"You are nothing. Your rules mean nothing." Says a red-headed woman coming to stand behind the blonde.

"You will find our rules mean a great deal, actually." I reply. "It's my job to make sure we hide what we are from the human race. You, on the other hand, are determined to make that calling very difficult for me today."

"We make it a point to make the lives of Volturi trash as difficult as possible." Says a third coven member. Another woman, but with short brown hair styled in a bob.

"That is quite apparent." I reply sassily gesturing to the destruction they had already caused. "Just know that if you continue your current path, I will have no choice but to end you."

"You? End us?" the male laughs "How can two Volturi guards take down five of us?"

"Five?" I ask intrigued. "I fail to see the other two. If there are truly five of you, where are they? I demand they make themselves known."

I don't have to wait long before two more men come walking my direction. One is short, stocky, and bald. The other is his exact opposite. Tall, with long brown hair and a muscular physique.

"Do you think being outnumbered should terrify me?" I ask. "Because your scare tactics need work if that's what you think."

"We will rip you to shreds Volturi bitch." States the short man.

"Oh, you can certainly try, but I believe I have the upper hand here." I state back confidently.

"How is that?" Asks the red-head.

"Because I have something that you don't." I reply darkly. "Now, I will give you the chance to come back to Volterra with us peacefully and face the punishment for your crimes like civilized vamps, or you can choose to fight."

"I will fight for my freedom to do as I like." The blonde says full of cocky confidence.

"Then you will burn." I state calmly.

It was at that moment that Char lowers her hood and Felix, Afton and Jane step out of the shadows. I could see the panicked expressions on the Russian's faces. Jane's and Felix's reputations certainly preceded them.

Felix went after the tall brunette male that I knew didn't stand a chance against him. As muscular as the Russian's physique was, I had yet to meet another that could best the former Roman. Jane had dropped the redhead and was busy torturing her with an angelic smile on her face. Sometimes I thought she enjoyed inflicting her gift far too much, but I wasn't one to judge. Char took on the brunette female and was busy playing with her food, so to speak. I knew that Char needed a bit of a workout, so the brunette was a good choice, but for all intents and purposes the Russian was no match for Char's skill. That left Afton with the stocky bald man and me with the coven leader.

I could have very easily wrapped the leader in my shield and taken off his head without too much fanfare, but it had been a while since I really let loose and this was as good an opportunity as I was going to get any time soon. As we circled each other, he was in a crouch ready to pounce at the first opportunity and I was standing at full height and casually mirroring his every step. Surprising him, I moved first, breaking our circling and running straight for him. I feinted like I was going for his left side, but twisted at the last second and took him down at the knees. He managed to land a decent punch to my ribs trying to get me off of him, but I wasn't fazed. I managed to get to my knees, and with a bit of leverage, I tore his legs off at the knees so he couldn't get anywhere. From there, it was a simple matter of dismembering the rest of him and setting him alight. Honestly, he didn't have near the fight I expected and it was kind of disappointing.

Once he was officially ash, I looked around to check the status of my teammates and noticed that they were holding their own for the most part, but Char seemed to be having a bit of trouble with her opponent. On my way to assist, the brunette Char was fighting took a hold of the bottom of her Volturi cloak and spun her towards the nearest fire that Felix had set to end his opponent. I knew I wasn't going to make it in time to help her and although my shield was many things, it unfortunately wasn't fireproof, so I couldn't wrap it around her to help her that way either.

As our eyes met across the battlefield, I could see the fear in her eyes as I'm sure she could see the horror in mine. I could tell that this would be the last time I would ever see her, the last conversation we had was a little under two hours ago, the last time I heard her laugh was yesterday, and I knew I would never get over this loss.

What I didn't expect was Afton to come leaping over the fire on the other side to push Char back towards me as he took the brunt of her body's blow and took her place on the pyre. Shocked as I was about Afton's actions, I ran to catch Char just before she hit the ground. I couldn't understand what made Afton take her place that day, nor would I ever forget what happened, but I had more time to think on the 'why' of his sacrifice later. Right now I had a friend to comfort and a bitch to burn.

"Are you ok?!" I asked Char in a panic.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." She replied reassuringly. "Go get that Russian bitch."

I didn't need to be told twice.

As a red mist descended over my vision, my rage at almost losing my best friend and anger over the death of one of my Volturi family members overcame me and I was immediately after my target. I was out to make that brunette bitch pay for what I had nearly lost and I was determined to make it hurt.

I ran after her and cornered her in an alley about three blocks away from the building. My shield immediately engaged and wrapped around her keeping her from escaping. "You are going to regret ever being turned by the time I'm done with you." I snarl.

She didn't bother responding with anything more than a growl before I attacked. I took my time with her, making sure that she felt everything I did to her, but keeping her immobile so she couldn't fight back. I wasn't in the mood for a fair fight. I wanted her to know that she royally fucked up. I separated each of her fingers before burning them while she watched, laughing darkly while I was making her suffer. Then I moved onto her hands, and then her forearms, and so forth.

A while later, I was standing over the burning remains of the Russian and covered in her venom– not really remembering what all I had done to get to this point – when Char came to find me. She seemed to be doing alright, but I wouldn't be entirely sure that she was until we got back home. As I wrapped one arm around her while watching the last of the flames die down, she gently took my face in her hands and slowly brought her lips up to meet mine in a gentle kiss.

I was noticeably shocked considering she had never once in the years we had known each other shown any romantic interest in me one way or another. I began to pull away because I was sure that this was a mistake and just an emotionally charged moment that resulted in a kiss that we both would regret once we calmed down, but she just held my face tighter and followed my movements to resume the kiss. It wasn't heated, but instead the emotion behind it was one of reassurance and soon I relaxed into it.

Her lips were soft and full and just the right tenderness. The kiss itself moved from reassuring to sweet as my hands gently wrapped around her waist and pulled her to me. There was still no real heat involved, but there could be if either of us wanted it.

It was only at the sound of a throat clearing unnecessarily that Char and I pulled apart. "Shall I come back later?" Jane asked with humor lacing her voice.

"No need." I reply stepping away from Char. Still managing to keep our hands clasped, I ask "Have the rest of the coven been disposed of?"

"Ash in the wind." Jane states with as much interest as she might give the weather.

"Good." It was only after the vamps had been disposed of that I gave another thought to the people they had been tormenting. I raised my hood to cover my face and Char, Felix, and Jane followed suit. I walked into the building and told Char to take the second floor, Felix to take the third, and that left Jane with the fourth. That left me with the ground floor. We would work our way up the building from there. I wanted to leave the humans and let them know that they were safe, but I couldn't do that. I had to make sure I left no witnesses. Which meant everyone in this building had to die and the building itself had to be burned beyond recognition. The media would claim it as an industrial accident.

"I don't want the humans to suffer needlessly, so make it quick." I tell the others.

Everyone nods in agreement and proceeds to their assigned floor. I begin walking through every room and listening for telltale signs of hearts beating to guide me. As I find a few shell-shocked survivors, I move too quickly for them to see me and snap their necks. I'm done with my assigned floor quicker than expected and proceed to the fourth floor to await everyone else.

Once everyone has gathered in the stairwell together I assign Felix to the roof, Jane to the seventh floor, Char to the sixth, and I will take the fifth. Once everyone is out, I'll make sure there's nothing left of the victims or the building. Explosives are easy to come by when you work for the Volturi.

Once the building was cleared of all forms of life, I sent Felix back to the plane to get some explosives that we had on board. It never hurts to be prepared for any eventuality and we had more than mere explosives on board the Volturi jet.

While Felix was gone, the rest of us took the time to carry the bodies to the bottom floor of the building and begin the process of finding the weakest points of the building to set the explosives when Felix returned.

Within the hour, the building was in flames and we were on the jet and on our way back to Volterra. The coven problem was solved, but I had one hell of a report to give to the Kings once I got back and I felt it was my personal mission that nothing like what happened with Afton was ever going to happen again as long as I was around. First though, I had to determine exactly what had happened and exactly what I could do to fix it.

From what I could remember, the Russian had taken ahold of Char's cloak and tried to use the leverage that she had on it to her advantage. Which brought up the question of why the cloth itself didn't rip? It should have with the amount of force necessary to fling someone onto a pyre, yet it didn't.

I took a look at my own cloak and tried to remember if any one of these had actually ever been ripped. At all. I honestly couldn't remember a single time in my fifteen years that any one of these had needed to be replaced. Why not? I gripped two parts of my cloak in between my fingers and gave an experimental tug.

Nothing. Absolutely no give whatsoever to the fabric. I mean, I knew these were durable, but damn. It didn't make me feel better at all to know my experiment failed, but it did raise the question as to what these cloaks were made of. They didn't smell any different from the cotton my clothes were made from, but I've had to replace far too may clothes for these to be that delicate.

Which meant I would have to ask my father and my uncles about this and frankly, I didn't really want to talk to them about something they deemed so trivial as fabric, but the safety of the Guard – of Char – rested in my hands and I was going to make sure I kept what belonged to me safe, no matter the cost. That also meant I was going to have to convince men that had been around for thousands of years that the uniforms we were currently using were dangerous and outdated – which was a chore in itself – and then I had to come up with an entirely new Volturi Guard uniform to pitch to them that wouldn't malfunction so badly as to result in the death of a Guard member.

That was a headache that I could put my subconscious on for the moment. My second concern was why Afton chose to sacrifice himself for Charlotte? Not that I wouldn't have done the same thing, but there was a bond between us that Afton didn't share. I supposed it could have been easier if I outright asked Char if anything had happened between her and Afton, but I never did things the easy way.

Which brought that kiss to my attention. Why did Char kiss me? Was it just for reassurance that she was there and she was ok? Was there a deeper meaning behind the kiss itself? Did she have romantic feelings towards me? Did I have romantic feelings towards her? The whole thing was a confusing mess and I was far too old to be acting like a sixteen year old who didn't know how to feel about someone liking her.

I sighed heavily and relaxed in my seat on the jet, staring out the window and trying to put my report together in my head along with my concerns about everything that had happened on this mission when Char sat down in the seat across from mine. It wasn't unusual for her to do that because we were practically attached at the hip, but this time I didn't bother letting my gaze leave the view outside the jet's window.

Something just felt…off and I couldn't figure out what emotions I was trying to feel or ignore, but I knew I needed to get my act together before we landed.

"I saved his life." Char says to me without preamble. Like I wouldn't know who she meant.

"You saved his life?" I turn it into a question as I repeat her words back like a parrot. Yes, in fact Bella does want a cracker.

I scoff and roll my eyes at my own internal dialog, but I don't explain. Char just pays it no heed and goes on. "You remember that rogue vampire in the Congo that I took care of a few years ago?"

"Yeah, that was when I was busy with Jane in Egypt trying to recruit Benjamin to the Volturi Guard for Aro, right?" I ask already knowing that was exactly what she meant.

"Right. Afton was on my team with Alec and Demetri during that mission." Char looks at me like she's begging me to understand when she continues. "We had caught up to the rogue about ten miles east of Sibiti when he sprung a trap on us. Apparently he had been in contact with a loner known as Joham and had decided to form his own version of a vampire family with his sons and daughters a lot like Joham did. However, instead of keeping them hidden, this rogue went the other direction and he taught them how to become his own personal version of the Guard. He was causing so much havoc to the humans there that it was becoming national news. When we went into the Congo to take care of what we thought was just one rogue vamp on a violently obvious killing spree, we ran into the rogue and his half-human family."

Char looks over my right shoulder as her memories take her back to that day. "The fighting was intense between the four of us and the huge family the rogue had amassed. Thank every deity under the sun we were so well trained because it wasn't an easy fight even with Alec's gift. I think he lost a hand during that battle, but Afton was in far worse shape. The hybrids had him surrounded and had removed every limb from him before I got there to help. They had even removed his head and were starting a fire to burn him when I got there. I was so angry that someone had dared to hurt another member of our Guard like that and I just let instinct and fury take over. Before I knew it, the hybrids were dead and I was helping put Afton back together."

"That's where you got the scar on your elbow, right? From one of them getting the upper hand for a second?" I asked a bit snarkily.

"Got it in one." Char replies ignoring my petulance. "I put Afton back together after I took care of my own arm, but he survived that encounter because I was there. To him, he owed me a life-debt. I may not have ever seen it that way, but he lived just because I was there to save him and to him it was a huge deal. He sacrificed himself to save me today because he felt he had a debt to pay. I will never forget what we lost today – a comrade and a friend – but I will always be glad of his sacrifice in that he let me live so I could spend more time with you."

"You seem so easy-going about this." I say tiredly.

"I'm not. I did have plenty of time to talk to him about it before now, however and that eases my mind about it a bit. I am still angry that we lost one of our own today and it makes me feel undeserving that he burned in my place, but I can't let what he saw as a noble and right cause go unappreciated because it was unconventional." Char states simply and seemingly at peace with what happened.

Although I hate to admit it, she's right. I can learn from this as the lesson that it was meant to be, or I can wallow in the loss of a friend that I couldn't prevent.

I think I'll take the lesson out of this one. "Ok. Thank you for telling me."

"No problem."

We spend the rest of the flight going over possible uniform upgrades and she gives me opinions about materials and colors and whatnot. As we talk, neither one of us mentions the kiss and I start to believe that it was nothing more than a reassurance. I just let the whole thing slide and prepare myself for my report to the Kings.

When we pull up to the castle from the airport we leave our car in the garage and head into the reception area of the castle. The rest of our team bids us goodbye and leaves in search of their various other pursuits while Char and I have the new receptionist let the Kings know that we're back. Not thirty seconds later, we are admitted into the Throne Room and greeted warmly by all three Kings.

"My dear daughters," Caius begins, "I'm so glad to have you back and in one piece."

I can't help but cringe slightly at my father's words and I know he caught the movement. "What is it?" He asks calmly.

It doesn't take too long to sum up what happened in Russia, but I can tell it hurts the Kings dearly to know of Afton's loss. When I explain that Char and I have a solution to the problem, the Kings are all ears.

"I would like to remove the cloaks from our Guard uniforms unless it's for formal occasions only." I state confidently. "I would also like to recommend a more military look for the remainder of the Guard as well as doubling our recruiting efforts."

"Let's go over one thing at a time, shall we?" Aro asks. "Let's start with the loss of the cloaks."

"I'm not saying that we should get rid of them entirely, but only use them for formal occasions. I'm not sure what fabric these cloaks are made of, but whatever it is, we can't afford for it to fail and result in another guard losing their lives due to the inability to get out of the fabric quickly when it's used as a weapon against the wearer. It doesn't rip. In the fifteen years I've been here, it never occurred to me to wonder why we had never needed to replace any of these cloaks. After seeing both Char and I through our newborn year and remembering how many sets of clothes we went through I was shocked to realize that I had never needed to worry about ruining the cloak."

"What do you propose?" Marcus asks seeming interested in the conversation.

"I propose that whatever means you have to make these", I say holding up my cloak, "be repurposed into a more durable and modern version of military garb. Use the fabric for more military style pants and jackets for missions, but keep the black color since most of the vampire world knows that you've adopted that color as your own. Use a non-dyed version of the fabric to make shirts that mark ranks the same way you were using the cloaks to do the same thing. This way the fabric won't fail when it's not mean to. Give us military grade boots that we can wear in any weather and any terrain so we're not replacing high-end shoes after every mission. Fashion only gets us so far when we're fighting for our lives."

"You raise a very good point, my dear." Caius says calmly. "Maybe we are a bit outdated, brothers."

"We'll take your proposal under consideration, but I can't promise anything." Aro says simply, but I can see him coming around to my way of thinking.

"As to doubling our recruiting efforts," Caius says, "what did you have in mind?"

"Well, our numbers aren't infinite." I begin. "We have losses just like any other coven, but since we are Volturi, no one ever seems to want to join. Hell, Char and I are the last two you had join your ranks and that was over a decade ago. I think that we should start looking in the same place Char and I were for new recruits. Look to new military contracts for countries that require you to sign up for it and grab the recruits before they leave for their country's military. Request new personnel here in the castle from the Italian population as 'guards' but don't tell them what they're guarding until the potential candidates get here and can be interviewed and Aro can read them properly. Tell other countries that you are looking for candidates to help safeguard the history here and use INTERPOL as a general idea of gathering more Guards internationally. Talk up the Volturi and make people want to join and they will. Let Aro read them to make sure they're worthy to be Volturi before they're changed. Let Marcus teach the history and let Caius teach the military skill that we're known for and we'll have fuller ranks than we ever have before."

"You've really put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" Caius asks me.

"I had quite a bit to think about on the plane." I state simply.

"Apparently so." Marcus replies. "I don't know about you, brothers, but I think Bella has brought us quite a few good ideas and points of discussion."

"I agree." Aro replies. "I see that you are very passionate about these concerns and I swear we will take them to heart and discuss them seriously."

"We are all very proud of you and the initiative you've taken." Caius responds as he gets down from the dais to hug both Char and I. "You have done very well, my daughters. Now I believe that it is time for you two to rest and relax for the evening. We will discuss this further tomorrow."

"Thank you, Father. Uncles." I say as we bow before the Kings and make our leave.

It didn't take us long to wind our way through the corridors and back to our room. Once we had made it back, Char made herself comfortable sitting on our couch as we discarded our mission clothes and got comfortable.

"We need to talk about what happened." She tells me quietly.

"Not right now." I reply knowing that she finally wants to discuss that kiss we've been avoiding.

"Yes now." She snaps back. "There's not a better time than now. We have plenty of time to discuss this."

I sigh knowing she's right, but not really wanting to admit it to myself. She's known all along that I was loathe to put a name to whatever this closeness was we had between us. I know that's silly and stupid of me, but after the only other real relationship I'd been in blew up in my face, I really didn't want to label any other relationship I happen to be in.

I know that we claim the title of sisters, and yes that does technically count as a label, but there was something else to what we had. Something more. Why else would I have asked Char to be changed? Why else would she have stayed by my side this long?

"Look," she begins calmly, "I know you don't want to put a label to this. Honestly, I don't want to either."

I look up at her from my position on the couch. "Really?" I ask her disbelievingly. "You don't want to put a label on this?"

"I've never wanted to. You just won't listen to the reason behind it." She replies.

"Well, considering I'm not planning to do much over the next few days, why don't you explain it to me then?" I say as I lean back and cross my arms in front of me.

She doesn't speak as she stands up and adjusts her stance over me. She puts her left leg on the outside of my right and her right leg on the outside of my left where she's kneeling over me as I sit on the couch waiting on her next move. She sits down on my lap, straddling me and leans in to kiss me softly and gently.

Vampires are sexual beings and it doesn't matter to us whether the person we're interested in is male or female or whether it's one other body – or more – that we're loving. Unless we find our mate, finding solace and comfort in another interested party is a perfectly acceptable way to spend an evening. It's always been this way although no one knows exactly why considering we can't procreate through intercourse. There's truth to the Incubus and Succubus stories that people hear in their mythology and lore. Joham and the Succubus Sisters are proof of that. We can't really seem to help ourselves, nor would we really want to. Feeling that connection with someone reaffirms that we have someone who cares about us and our well-being and that is certainly a feeling I cannot live without.

The kiss turns heated very quickly and soon our tongues are fighting for dominance and my hands are roaming over her still clothed body and through her blonde hair. I can feel a pleasant tingling low in my belly and I can feel her body scooting closer over mine.

"Since when have you had any romantic feelings towards me?" I can't help but ask as her mouth leaves mine and starts sucking gently on my neck.

"I've always had romantic feelings towards you, but today was…an eye-opening experience and I plan to take advantage of this for as long as I can. You never know how much you truly want something until it's taken from you and you were almost taken from me today. I promised myself that I wouldn't let this chance pass me by." She replies breathily into my neck.

"Are you sure you wanna take this to the next level, Char?" I ask. "Are you sure you want this kind of relationship with me?"

"It's not like anyone would care." I feel Char shrug. "They all think we've slept together before, so what's the point in denying something we both want?"

"I don't care what anyone else thinks." I reply hotly. "I just want to know where your head is at right now. What if you meet your mate?"

She stops nuzzling at my neck, leans back to look me in the eyes, and pins me to my spot with an intense look. "You may not be the 'mate' that fate has chosen for me, but I've loved you since the first day we met, but you were so hung up and broken when it came to any sort of relationship that I knew it would be a while before I could even begin to bring up the idea of us being together. Almost burning today made me realize that even though I'm practically indestructible, I'm not completely immune to harm. Can you blame me for taking the chance to finally, after nearly twenty years, show you how I feel?"

I can tell by looking into her eyes that she is very serious about everything she's said. She really does mean what she's telling me and she really does feel this way about me. It's time I opened up a bit to the one person I can really trust and the one person that really knows me. She's been through everything with me, and even in times when we fought with eachother, she was always there to talk things over at the end of the day. She has only ever left my side when ordered and she has always returned to ease my worries when she's had to be somewhere I couldn't go.

Seeing everything that has happened between us in the years we've known eachother, it seems as though we are truly sisters. Bonded by blood and war and experiences that no one could understand. Oh how weak our bond was back then. Knowing now that we are bonded by venom, it makes our bond stronger and now we both realize that nothing could actually break it when it seemed so weak before. Seeing our bond in a new light, however brings to focus all of the little things that I took for granted or I took to just being quirks that Char had.

The realization comes over me like a tidal wave. I do love Char. It's not the all encompassing love that mates have for one another, but it is love. It goes far beyond sisterly affection and I'm ashamed that it took her confessing her feelings before I finally realized that I had any to reciprocate.

"I love you." I tell her honestly.

"I know that. You've been saying that since before we were turned." She replies still unmoving on my lap.

"No. I mean I love you. As in, more than what I've felt for anyone since Edward. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it."

"Finally got your head out of your ass, have you?" She asks smirking.

"Apparently so." I reply resuming our kiss and running my fingers through her hair. It's all tangles and her ruby eyes are almost pure black from desire. I'm sure I don't look much better.

She continues her relentless teasing and starts kissing down my neck as her hands slide over my stomach and they start to slowly rise up to cup my breasts. She begins kneading them through my shirt and bra as she continues to kiss, lick, and suck marks along my collarbone.

My hands find the end of her shirt and I rip it off her body, it tears like tissue paper under my hands. She apparently decided not to wear a bra today and I may have moaned as I took in the D sized glory in front of my face. I took a nipple into my mouth and began to tease it by nipping and sucking as my right hand went to her left breast to knead that one and tease that nipple to a point.

As I start to move my mouth from her nipple and back up to her neck, I can feel my own shirt ripping and then my bra. Apparently things had gotten a bit heated for Char and she'd had enough teasing. She was ready for skin-on-skin contact and I was, too.

"Pants and underwear off." She demanded into my mouth.

"No." I said simply. "If you want them off bad enough, you can rip them off yourself."

I'm not sure if that was the right thing or the wrong thing to say. With a growl she stands up and proceeds to do just that. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting this type of urgency, but I was fully on board.

She then lets her pants and panties drop to the ground with no more fanfare or care than she ripped off mine. She then flits out of the living room and towards her bedroom and is back in a second with a very suspicious package. She opens the unassuming box and pulls out a purple dildo. It seems like it's one of those rabbit models that I remember from my human days, but maybe more sophisticated.

She comes back towards me, spreads my legs apart and is greeted with the sight of my pussy slick and wet for her. She doesn't immediately head for my folds, but instead she nibbles her way up my right thigh and then switches to my left before giving me any sort of relief. Once she thinks I've been teased enough, she runs the tip of the dildo up and down my soaked folds before pushing in. She's not slow about it, but I didn't want her to be. Once she's gotten it situated where she wants it, she turns on the little vibrator that's attached to stimulate my clit and she begins thrusting into me. My legs wrap around her waist and pull her closer so I can kiss her deeply and my hands grab anything they can reach.

She breaks the kiss and begins her journey down my neck and collarbone and down to the valley between my breasts. She works her way up to one very hard nipple and begins sucking and licking and at this rate, while she's thrusting that dildo into me so quickly, I don't think I'll be able to last long.

"Charlotte" I beg "I need more. Please don't stop. I'm so close."

"I've got you, Bella." She replies, releasing my nipple from her mouth while making her way over to the one she's been neglecting. "Cum for me." She latches onto the other nipple and sucks. Hard. Before I know what hit me, my orgasm washes over me and I'm screaming her name.

I don't waste any time before I'm pushing her off of me and onto the floor. She looks at me in a panic before my head disappears in between her legs. I'm not used to eating another woman out, but I know what I enjoy, so I suppose I can use the same basic principle here.

I can tell by how wet she currently is that teasing her is going to get me nowhere, so I thrust two fingers into her, curl them upwards and immediately find and circle her clit with my tongue. The scream that she lets out will probably be ringing in my ears for the next few days, but at least I know I'm doing something right.

As I lick and kiss and suck on every inch of her pussy I can reach I never once stop my fingers from thrusting. I can tell she's chasing her own orgasm when her hips start to involuntarily meet the movements of my fingers. Seeing her writhing on my hand like she is has got to be one of the hottest things I've ever seen and I moan as I latch onto her clit again.

"Faster, Bella." She pants, desperately.

I don't hesitate. Upping the speed of my fingers as they pound into her.

"Yes! Oh, God! Just like that! Yes! You're gonna make me cum!" She repeats over and over almost screaming. I don't stop. I add a third just to see if that was what she needed, to feel fuller.

As her orgasm overtakes her, I feel her walls clamp down on my fingers as she lets out a silent scream and her back arches up off the living room floor. I keep applying the right amount of stimulation to get her through her orgasm, but stop before she becomes too sensitive.

As I lean back onto the couch, I tell her, "We're gonna have a discussion about why you had this when we both come back down to earth." I say pointing at the dildo.

Char just laughs.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you to those of you that let me know about the errors when this originally posted! Y'all rock. I've recently gotten some comments that claim this is not a Bella/Jasper story. FEAR NOT READERS. It will be. I just need to get my characters where I want them before that happens. Please be patient.**

 **I'm so sorry this took so long to update! I hope this chapter makes up for it!**

 **I still own nothing! Enjoy!**

 **BPOV**

The next morning when we were summoned, Char and I dressed appropriately and headed to see the Kings. They had made themselves comfortable in Caius's office and, from what we could tell from three halls away, were loudly discussing the possibility of recruitment while awaiting our arrival. "By the gods, Aro. Don't you think that the idea at least deserves some form of consideration?" We hear Marcus ask on our way down the stone corridor.

"I understand your concern, brother. I really do. However, we have to think of the possibilities brought on by this. If we take more military-oriented recruits, there's the possibility that those we desire could be missed and reported. We are Volturi and as such we cannot afford to flout our own rules! Rules that -need I remind you - were laid down for a reason, Marcus!" Aro shouts.

"I realize that the general idea may require further thought, but we need to get with the times. We're running the entire Vampire world on rules from our time. Don't you think that recruitment for the guard is a better possibility now that the world is the way it is than what we were use to in our time?" Caius asks concerned. "I do believe that Bella is right. We are not as immortal as we once were. That word holds a far different meaning now than it did when we were first turned."

Marcus adds, "Our own kind advance as the world does because we have no choice. Our brains cannot stay stagnant and set in their ways or we are no better than the Romanians; completely useless and outdated and no more the threat than a mouse to a serpent. We use modern technology already, so why shouldn't we be using modern thoughts and practices as well? We must advance because if we don't, then we're just asking for long-term troubles. Which brings us back to Bella's point; we are not an infinite force and as trained and deadly as they are, we could use more Guard members for when troubles do arise."

Char and I stopped just outside the office door and continued to listen to the debate on the other side. We couldn't help but look at one another in agreement with Marcus and Caius.

Char raised her hand to knock and was admitted into the office by Marcus. I had always loved it in this office. Although the furniture was antique, the design was modern and open with plenty of light in the room to give it a homelike feeling and to show off the various military-themed original paintings that Caius had on his walls. The desk was made of a dark stained mahogany and was roughly as long as I was tall. The intricate woodworking and detail on the desk was something that Caius had made himself about a hundred years after the Volturi were formed. The two beautiful chocolate leather chairs that sat in front of the desk were also made by Caius and fit the design of the room well. The chair that Caius sat in was the only piece of furniture in this office that was not made or designed by him. Instead, it was a beautiful oak-based high-backed reclining office chair that had cream-colored leather cushions and brass accents. Char and I had made it during our newborn year as a way to control our physical strength, but Caius had loved it so much that he placed it in here as his own personal chair.

"Ah, finally you two have arrived." Marcus stated with an air of annoyance. "Could you please talk some sense into your uncle? He's having a difficult time modernizing his way of thinking." Aro certainly did not look happy, but he also had one hell of a stubborn streak. He was the 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' type and absolutely loathed huge changes.

"Uncle" Char said sweetly walking over and kneeling by his feet, "you know that we only want what's best for the Volturi. If that means that we have to modernize a few things, I don't see what's so wrong with it. We want your rule to continue as it has in the past and we don't want anything to threaten that. If we don't do this, I fear one day the whole of the Volturi could fall."

Aro looks at Char and gently places a hand on her face, cupping her jaw gently. "Dear niece, the only thing I'm concerned about is the possibility of us being outed to the humans that we're recruiting from. The whole point of secrecy is to keep us safe. I feel like we're unnecessarily putting ourselves in danger if we do this."

"I've put some thought into that." I state boldly into the room.

"Please share." Aro requests, hands sweeping out towards everyone in the room.

"I did some thinking this morning and instead of using people that had just signed up for military service, why don't we use those that are being Honorably Discharged for some reason or another? I know that Demetri has been dying to use his computer system for more than just vamp troubles. We could research every candidate that might be a good fit, and then a recruiting party would be sent to interview that candidate. If we feel as though that candidate has what you are looking for in a Guard member, then we bring them back here for a final interview with you. There, Marcus can tell if they're bonded strongly to anyone that might miss them, Aro could read them, and Caius could interview them on their more specific military background and what we can expect from them if they're chosen."

"Treat it like a job interview." Char states simply. "We are looking for specific people to fill these roles, so there's no reason that we can't interview properly. We just have to be very selective on how we recruit."

"Exactly. We don't want any of the other covens or nomads to get the wrong impression as to why we're recruiting. The last thing we need is for some idiot to hear we're adding to the Guard, get scared, and start turning humans as a defense mechanism because they think we're coming after them." I say building on Char's statement.

"And how do you propose that we word this request?" Aro asks clearly intrigued.

"Hell if I know." I reply shrugging my shoulders to emphasize my point. "Legalese isn't really my thing, but I'm sure one of you has the chops to make this both legitimate and cover it with red-tape if someone digs too far."

"I'm sure I can make something work, brother." Marcus states to Aro with a twinkle in his eyes.

After a few months, more conversations about the new possibilities of the Volturi, and a hell of a lot of negotiating on proper word usage (which is not something I ever thought I'd need after high school) we were finally ready to start recruiting.

Demetri and Alec had been extremely busy with their fancy computer system and had found us several good candidates that we were looking into. Our initial meeting with these candidates could go one of two ways; either we were taken seriously, or not. It was up to the teams we had assigned to greet these candidates to make a good first impression.

The first candidate that was up for consideration to our ranks was a Corporal Ross Wilson. He had served two tours in the most recent military battle in the Middle East (since it didn't involve me anymore, I hadn't really bothered to keep up) and had a spotless military record and was being honorably discharged because he had done his time and wanted something different. Well, we could offer him that. Jane and Demetri were assigned to make the initial contact with him and were due to leave within the hour.

The second candidate was Sigrid Fischer a Stabsfeldwebel, or Master Sergeant, in the German military. She had been discharged after her family was taken from her by a human serial killer. She couldn't get over her grief and went in search of the maniac herself, only to nearly die before she slit his throat. Heidi and Alec had volunteered to be the ones to introduce themselves to her and would leave as soon as Heidi got back from her most recent fishing expedition. Grief wasn't something we were worried about in a new vamp because their memories could easily be wiped by the burn, so she would be a great addition to our ranks if she made it this far.

Our third candidate was Sebastian Taylor. A Squadron Leader in New Zealand's Air force, he was discharged after his tours of duty were complete and decided not to enlist again. From what Demetri had been able to determine, he had no living family and nothing keeping him on the island, so he had decided to move to America to start fresh. We could give him the fresh start he wanted. Char and I decided to handle this one ourselves, but contrary to popular belief it was not so we could get our geek on in Hobbiton. Nope. It most certainly was not.

We had scoured the planet for recruits and had found one from Japan, one from Israel, one from South Africa, two from Canada, one from Romania, and one from Russia, and that was just to start. The other candidates were handled by more members of the Guard that were more familiar with the customs or the language spoken. Marcus even agreed to travel to Israel to meet the recruit there, but before Char and I departed on one of the smaller jets, Aro was trying his best to keep Marcus in the castle and send Corin to Israel instead. I mentally wished Aro luck, because I was sure that wasn't an argument he was going to win.

"So" Char said as our plane finally made its climb upwards, "Demetri said that the last place he found Sebastian was near Auckland on the North Island. Apparently he's been staying in a motel there until he can get enough money to get a plane ticket." Char hands me the dossier that Demetri put together on this recruit.

"Good thing he won't need a ticket for this flight." I reply looking over the information Char handed me on this guy. "I just hope he's a good fit."

"Certainly not bad-looking." Char notes. At six feet tall with long dark hair and blue eyes I had to agree with her. He had a chiseled jaw, well defined muscles, and a beautiful smile. This man was certainly photogenic, but we would see if the photos lived up to the real thing.

I give Char an unamused look before she responds with, "What? I may prefer tacos to hot dogs right now, but that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to appreciate what's on the menu when it's placed in front of me."

"You never have been one for tact, have you?" I ask pretending to look over the dossier in front of me.

"Nah, but you already knew that." She replies leaning back into her seat as calmly as she can. "What you wanted to say was 'Char, that's so crass' and then withhold sex from me for a week. Am I right?"

"Oh, definitely." I reply with a smirk, "Although a week may be too light a sentence for that statement."

"Is that so?" She asks walking to my seat and gently removing the folder from my grasp so she can perch herself comfortably on my lap.

"No. Not at all." I can't help but reply back grinning as my hands grip her hips and my eyes trail up to meet hers.

"Really?" She scoffs a laugh.

"Really." I reply honestly. "Do you think I'm gonna give this up now just because you can be tactless?" I ask running my hands gently over her back.

"Well, I have always wanted to join the Mile-High Club." she winks saucily at me and giggles as she shoots off my lap and runs at human speed for the back of the plane. Unfortunately for me, that is an offer I just don't have the strength to pass up.

*******  
Several hours later, as we come back to ourselves somewhere over the Indian Ocean and covered in bits of blankets and clothes, I can't help but ask, "When did you have time to pack all these?" gesturing to the assortment of vampire resilient dildos, vibrators, and other fun toys that Char had seemed to conjure out of thin air.

"It's amazing what you can fit in a duffle bag when clothes aren't much of a concern." She replies shrugging innocently.

"Well" I say looking down at our naked bodies, "I think clothes will be a concern now, don't you?"

"I said 'much of a concern' not 'no concern at all'." Char replies sitting up and pulling her duffle closer to her. "I do have the new uniform that Father requested we wear on this expedition. That will have to do until we get back to Volterra."

As we both get dressed, I can't help but be really happy with the Volterra resident seamstress. Heidi was a lot of things, but I had never really thought of her as someone who enjoyed making clothes. She had several humans that worked for her when she was busy, but for the most part, all of the custom-made clothes that any of the Volturi members wore were made by Heidi. I still don't know exactly what the cloaks were made of, and I honestly don't care all that much, but whatever she did to our new uniforms really made me feel better about the change. The boots were military-grade but had been "vamped up" whatever that meant. The tactical pants and matching jackets were black with a mixed camo/cargo style that had pockets everywhere and a small red "V" embroidered into the top left part of the jacket and the pants, yet still looked badass enough to go into battle wearing. The only difference between Char's uniform and mine was the color of the shirt. Hers was about a shade lighter than my dark grey.

"I also remembered to pack these." Char stated handing me a pair of colored contact lenses.

"Seriously?" I asked disbelieving. "I hate wearing these things. I can't fucking see when they're in." Taking them from her, I begrudgingly begin to place the irritating lenses into my eyes.

"It's only temporary and by the time we get back to the plane, they'll have dissolved." Char replies putting hers in.

Once our clothes were on, contacts in, and our toys put back into Char's duffle, we headed back out to the main body of the plane and made ourselves comfortable before our decent into New Zealand. The Kings had come up with a general outline of what we were supposed to say and do, but since every encounter with humans can be a bit dicey we were allowed to improvise the details if necessary.

From what I had read about this guy he was very well liked when he was in the Air Force. His superiors praised his work and those he supervised respected him. He rose to Squadron Leader fairly quickly considering his lack of desire to stay. He could have had one hell of a career if he chose to stay in the Air Force, but apparently three tours was enough for him and he decided he was done. It was my job to not only see if he had the personality and intelligence we were looking for to add to our ranks, but also to convince him that he wasn't quite as 'done' as he thought he was.

Char and I went from chatty, fun, young, and unprofessional vampires to professional Volturi Guard members that didn't take anyone's shit as soon as our wheels hit the tarmac at Auckland International Airport. We had a job to do now and we'd be damned if we weren't gonna do it right.

Once we were cleared by the customs agents that came to greet the private jet we had flown in on, we were finally able to leave and get this mission started. As we disembarked the plane we took a moment to check our surroundings for any immediate threats that might come from any covens in this area that knew we were here. As far as I knew, there was only one coven in New Zealand and they tended to stay on the South Island closer to Dunedin, so we shouldn't have any unforeseen issues. Since we didn't have any baggage that we needed to bring with us, we just left our duffle bags on the plane and proceeded through the mass of humanity that was the Airport terminal. It was one of the things I hated most about being a vampire, when in large crowds I had to move at a humanly slow pace. I could have run at full speed, but due to Laws that the Kings had passed centuries ago, I had to keep the human charade up when in public.

"What was the name of the motel that Sebastian is staying at?" I asked Char when we finally made it to the street in front of the airport.

"New Haven Motel, but he also frequents bars around there, so that may be a good place to pick up his scent and watch him for a bit before we make contact."

"My thoughts exactly." I reply. "According to the dossier, there are several bars that he frequents; The Workshop Bar, The Taphouse, and Black Salt Bar to name a few, so we're gonna have to split up."

"I'll take the Taphouse to start and move onto Massé if I don't see him." Char replies.

"I guess that leaves me with the Workshop and Black Salt, then."

"I'll call if I find him." Char states simply before kissing me softly, yet chastely and hails a cab to take her to the Taphouse.

I hail my own cab and begin my journey at the Workshop. I give the cabbie the address to the place I want to go and as I relax into the backseat, I can't help but notice his blood pressure rising the longer I sit in the back of this cab. My original thought is that I must be terrifying to this poor human, but without the scent of fear in the air, I realized he's not scared of me at all. I know that the venom had a beautifying effect when I was made vampire, but it still never gets old when I can make a human nervous or awestruck with just my appearance. It's nice to get a little ego boost every once in a while.

On the drive, he seems bound and determined to do the whole small-talk thing asking me where I'm from and what I'm doing here in New Zealand. While he seems determined to get me to respond in some way, I just can't make myself give more than simple answers that are supposed to be a red-flag to this guy that I'm not in the mood to talk. He just keeps carrying on, though trying to fill up the space in his cab with words.

White lettering on a blue backdrop greets me as my cab pulls up outside the bar. I thank the cabbie for the ride, pay him, and make sure there's a nice tip added. As talkative as he was, he wasn't offensive in any way, so he doesn't deserve to be snubbed. The bar itself is actually quite quaint and I can clearly see that once the Blood Room is ready for renovations, I may actually copy some of the building's designs into my own bar. The dichotomy of dark and light is the first thing I notice when I enter. The bar's ceiling is painted black and most of the bar has that same dark and comfortable atmosphere, but my eyes are immediately drawn to the lighter textured accent walls and the light bar itself. There's an important soccer game being broadcast on most of the televisions that have been put along the walls, with a few turned to the local news, and at least one group of college-aged kids has taken over the dartboard that had been placed strategically in a corner.

I make myself comfortable at the bar and take note of the people around me as well as the ones that seem intent on making themselves and their commentary a part of the game that's playing even though they know that the players can't hear them. The bartender eventually finds his way over to me and I order a beer to keep from being too obvious. As it's poured for me, I ask if Sebastian has been in this evening, or if he's planning to come in at all for the game. After giving me a curious look, then apparently making some connections in his head, the bartender responds with the sad 'I know what you're thinking, you can change him, but you'll never be able to, you can do better than him' trope. All of which I listened to before he told me that Sebastian hadn't been in that evening and wasn't likely to be.

Already completely tired of this whole situation, I take out my phone and text Char that I had no luck at this bar and was headed to Black Salt. After thanking the bartender and tipping him nicely, I walked out of the Workshop and hoped that I would have better luck at the other bar.

Since night had now fallen, I decided to forgo the human transport and ran to Black Salt. The funny thing about both bars that I had been to this evening is they seemed to fit the other's name nearly perfectly. A cute little front patio area greeted me as I walked up to the black lettering on a white background. This bar had atmosphere, too, but it was lit better and had open beams covering the walls from floor to ceiling and even had the ceiling covered, as well. I could tell that this place was more restaurant than bar, but I had to check it out regardless. Just as I was about to cross the threshold into Black Salt, I get a call from Char. She's found him hustling pool at Massé and I can't help but laugh at the thought of this well-respected Squadron Leader hustling pool. After a brief conversation, I'm on my way to Char and Sebastian.

This place looks exactly how you think a Pool Hall would look. Pool tables everywhere, dimly lit, smoke in the air, there's even an air hockey table in one corner. I spot Char immediately and head her direction. She's made herself comfortable at a round table overlooking several pool tables with a beer casually sitting in front of her. One of the pool tables she's watching I see Sebastian playing at. He's easily distinguishable from the surveillance photos we had of him in our dossier, but he has grown a bit of scruff on his jaw and I hate to admit that it's a good look on him.

Char's not even looking in my direction choosing to keep her eyes on the target, but pushes out the chair across from her inviting me to sit.

"Anything interesting happening?" I ask sitting down.

"Other than watching him make a fool out of himself, not really." She replies boredom lacing every syllable.

"Well, he win anything?"

"Couple hundred, but that's about it so far." She replies. "I really wanna go down there and play a game against him, myself."

"Why don't you?" I ask. It's not as if we weren't great at anything sports related anyway, even pool. "It would be a great way to make his acquaintance and you could get a conversation started."

"Nah. I was thinking we could just follow him to his hotel, break in while he's sleeping, scare him to death first thing in the morning, and do things the more complicated, but infinitely more fun way."

"And Jane says we're no fun to hang around anymore." I say sarcastically.

"She's one to fucking talk." Char replies animatedly, pointing a finger at me. "I found her in one of the common rooms in the castle knitting recently. Knitting, Bells! She's like my grandmother, I swear to God."

"Some people like to knit, Char." I say grinning. "For them it's fun and therapeutic."

"I know, but I didn't expect the most sadistic woman I've ever met to enjoy something as harmless as that. I mean, she enjoys torturing people. What the hell makes me think knitting would be a hobby of hers?"

"Well, she does get to use needles and stab something repeatedly, so is it really that much of a stretch?" I ask.

"Well, when you look at it that way, I suppose not."

We stayed at the Pool Hall for a few hours just keeping an eye on Sebastian and watching him lose more games than he won. Eventually, Char got bored watching (like I knew she would) and wanted to try her hand against him. I have to admit that she wasn't the most charming woman, but she could really play it up when she wanted. This was one of those times. Before I knew it, Char and Sebastian were in a heated game of pool which Char was letting him win and he was talking her ears off.

Sebastian had been drinking fairly steadily since I had gotten here and there was no way for me to guess how many he'd had before Char showed up, but his curiosity got the better of him and the liquid courage just loosened his tongue."Those aren't military fatigues I recognize." He mentioned casually to Char about ten minutes into their second game as he came closer to her to hit one of his striped balls into a corner pocket.

"No. I'm special forces." Char replied back easily. "Our unit is a very secretive unit, and we tend to stay out of the spotlight. My superior and I were actually recruiting in the area and came here after hours for some fun."

"Superior?" he asked looking around.

"That would be me." I replied walking over to watch the game a bit closer, but still managing to keep my distance by leaning back against the wall.

His eyes lingered on my face for a second before trailing down to the patch on my left shoulder. "That red 'V' is something I would've remembered had I seen it before." Sebastian replied. "It's different from the other Spec Ops patches I've seen."

"Oh, you're military?" I ask tilting my tone up at the end to give the impression that this was a question I was interested in him answering.

"Former Air Force, actually." He replies a bit smugly.

"Former? Why'd you leave?" Char asks seemingly intrigued.

"I did my tours, so no reason to stay." He replied.

"I was a Captain in the American military and I thought the same thing. I was ready to retire myself until this unit recruited me." I replied.

"So why are you recruiting in New Zealand?" he asked seeming uninterested like all he wanted to do was just make small-talk while he took his shots. All three of us knew better, though. He was interested at least a little.

"Why not?" I ask shrugging, "Our unit doesn't care if we're all from different countries as long as the recruits have the skills we're looking for. "

"And what are those skills, exactly?" Sebastian replies.

"Why don't you tell us." I state challengingly. "What would you look for if you were recruiting for your own military?"

"Oh, that's a good question, Captain." Char replies looking up from her shot to wink cheekily at me. "What traits would you look for?"

"Well, it really depends on the campaign." Sebastian begins. "What is the mission? What sort of Ops do you work? What skills do you have? What do you specialize in?"

"The specialties and skills range from person to person; which is, I suspect, why we were chosen." I reply.

"Give me an example." Sebastian requests.

"Alright," Char says confidently, "we have one guy who has excellent tracking skills, another that's never been beaten in hand-to-hand combat, and a third that can shield herself from any attack. The list goes on from there, but if I were to tell you about every member we've got we'd be here all night."

Char and I make eye contact for the briefest of seconds before she says, "In fact, we're here for a very specific type of recruit. One that our superiors think fits the bill of what our unit is looking for."

"And what is it that your superiors are looking for?" Sebastian asks. "Don't be afraid to be specific."

"Unfortunately we can't give out that information. We don't have the clearance. We're here to find people that could fit the bill. The actual recruitment takes place at headquarters in front of our superiors." I reply lacing a bit of boredom into my tone. "However, you do seem like the type that would fit in wonderfully with our unit."

"Nah, I'm good right here." Sebastian replies.

"Are you sure?" Char asks waking up to him and staring intently into her eyes. "It's a fantastic and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with great benefits, the opportunity for advancement, and the pay is unbelievable. It's a great way to get a fresh start and if I were you, I'd jump on this opportunity while it's staring you in the face. Hell, I _did_ jump on this opportunity when it stared me in the face. What have you got to lose with just one meeting with our superiors?"

Sebastian looked between me and Char and sighed deeply. "Fine. One meeting. If I don't like what I hear, I'm requesting a ticket to America."

"Done." I replied as I handed him a boarding pass for in the morning. "Meet us there at 9 am and we'll get this party started."

Sebastian continued to hustle pool after we departed, but I really wanted the opportunity to see Hobbiton since we were down here. What? A girl can geek out if she wants to. Jane didn't need to know everything that went on during this trip.

Char and I spent several hours enjoying ourselves in Hobbiton. We took photos and video and generally had an amazing time. It didn't matter that we showed up in the middle of the night, or that no one else was there. We still got into a bunch of shenanigans and got to see the inside of the Green Dragon and Bilbo's hobbit hole. The fact that we broke in was no hindrance at all and just added to the thrill. We did manage not to make a disaster of the place, so no one would be the wiser in the morning, but we still enjoyed ourselves.

By 8:30 the next morning we were back at the plane and waiting on Sebastian to show. It didn't take him long to find us, but once he did I could tell he was a bit nervous.

"Where's everyone else?" he asked as he came toward Char and I and the lowered stairs into the plane.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You said last night you were here on a recruiting mission. Aren't there others who will be joining us?" Sebastian asked nervously.

"Nope. You are the only one interested." Char replied calmly. "Now, let's get going. We don't wanna be late."

As Char practically shoved him up the stairs and into a seat towards the front of the plane, I could tell he knew something was different about us. He watched us very closely, but I couldn't smell any fear coming off of him, so I just assumed he was curious.

When the flight checks had been made and the plane was preparing to taxi, Char and I took seats across from Sebastian. I could nearly feel the curiosity rolling off of him, so I figured now would be a great time for him to ask any questions he had. I didn't have to wait long.

"Your eyes" he said eventually as we were taking off "I distinctly remember them being brown last night. Why do they look red in this light?"

Forgoing the need for a complicated and convoluted explanation that I was unable by Law to give, I figured that the truth would be a better answer, but I just…held back the details. "The red is a symbol of what we are. The brown was merely a cover using colored contacts." I reply nonchalantly.

"So if I get accepted, I'll have to change my eye color?" Sebastian asked.

"No." Char replied simply. "If you get accepted, there's a three day long process that you'll have to go through and after that, your eyes will automatically change color."

"You make acceptance sound so simple." Sebastian replied.

"Hardly, but I try not to fret with the details. It's above my pay grade." Char quips in response.

As the plane finally reaches altitude, Sebastian says as he relaxes further into his seat, "I never did learn your names last night."

"I'm Bella" I reply tilting my head "and that ball of sunshine is Charlotte."

"It's a true pleasure, ladies." He grins cheekily running his fingers through his hair and giving off an air of nonchalance. I have to hand it to him; he doesn't seem put-off or nervous having us this close. Only the Kings will be able to tell if he's worth keeping.

"Why don't you get some rest? It's a long flight back to Italy." I state conversationally.

"Is that where we're going? I never bothered to look at the destination. I'm assuming that's where headquarters are for you."

"So you mean to tell me that we could have flown you anywhere on Earth and you wouldn't have cared?" Char asks worried.

"Honestly, yeah." He replies unconcerned. "Anywhere is better than where I was and you promised me a fresh start. How could I say no to that?"

"Regardless, I would recommend sleep. We don't want you half-asleep when you meet Caius, Marcus, and Aro." I grab Char by the arm and drag her to another set of seats a bit further into the plane.

I called Caius about an hour into the flight to let him know we were successful in the acquisition of Sebastian and that he was, from first glance, a good candidate. He thanked me for my update and told me he would send a car to await us when we landed.

The hours passed quickly and Sebastian actually did sleep. Char and I just took up seats on the plane and stared at the vastness of the world as we flew over it. Not being able to sleep was both thrilling and annoying sometimes, but at least uneventful plane rides were a time that you could shut your brain off at least temporarily.

The car that Caius had sent was certainly waiting on us once we landed and we could not have been more surprised that our driver was actually Alec. "I thought you'd still be in Germany." I stated as we disembarked the plane with Sebastian.

"Would have been, but Heidi finally talked some sense into our possible recruit. Just got back about an hour before you did and Caius asked me to stay on and bring you back. Heidi's already back at the castle with Sigrid." Alec replied grinning. He hugged us both tightly before opening the back door to the big black SUV.

"Sebastian, this is Alec." I say making introductions. "Alec, Sebastian."

"It's good to meet you. I'll be driving you to the castle today. You can go ahead and place your bag in the back." Alec explained.

"A-Are you old enough to be on Special Forces?" Sebastian asked shocked placing his duffle in the trunk.

"Ha! I'm older than I look, but thanks for the compliment." Alec replies grinning.

"And what exactly is your special skill that got you recruited for this outfit?" Sebastian asked still apparently shocked at how young Alec seemed.

"My twin sister and I were actually recruited together and are a 'set' so to speak. In simple terms, she gives you pain and I take it away." Alec responds.

"So, let me get this straight, your sister tortures people and you take pain away?" Sebastian asks trying to clarify.

"I take everything away." Alec replies seriously looking directly into Sebastian's eyes.

"No need for a demonstration yet, Alec." I say placing my hand gently on his shoulder. "There will be time for that later."

"Fair enough. Everyone in the car. I'm sure Caius can't wait to have his daughters back and I know Aro can't wait to meet you, Sebastian." Alec says. "Which reminds me, did you two get the chance to explore Hobbiton while you were down there?"

For the next half an hour of our trip, Char regales Alec with our adventures in Hobbiton. It's not until we're pulling up to the clock tower that Char finally finishes her story. "…and you should have seen her" she tells Alec as we get out of the car, "making a complete fool of herself as she's standing on the table with a pint of beer in her hand singing the Hobbit's Green Dragon song from the movie, kicking her legs out can-can style. It was hilarious!"

"It wasn't _that_ funny." I reply trying to hide my grin as I inject fake acid into my tone.

"The only reason you don't think it's funny is because I will forever give you shit about it." Char replies pointing her slim fingers at me threateningly while Alec is nearly doubled over laughing at me.

"No." I state defiantly. "You know what? I'm not going to be ashamed for fangirling. It was awesome and you would have done the same exact thing!" I say pointing at Alec.

"Undoubtedly." Alec replies trying to catch his breath. "Please tell me one of you videotaped it."

"No! Thank god. I made sure Char wouldn't before I started singing. There was no way I'd have that shit recorded and passed around forever. I can just see the castle headlines now 'Captain of the Volturi Guard lets own guard down in New Zealand pub' I think not."

"From what I've been able to get from you, it's honestly shocking that you would be the one to fangirl that hard." Sebastian replies.

"I'm not quite as uptight and proper as my title makes me out to be." I reply back challengingly.

"Alright. I'm not one to judge. I would have done the same thing." Sebastian states calmly.

Once inside the building, we made our way to the receptionist who informed us that the Kings were awaiting our arrival. I led my contingent towards the throne room as I heard Char and Alec give Sebastian necessary information that he would need before meeting the Kings.

"Kings?" Sebastian asks.

"Yes. Our superiors are our Kings and our uncles. Char and I are nieces to Aro and Marcus and daughters to Caius." I state matter-of-factly.

"There's no need to bow when you meet them, you aren't under their reign…yet." Char says.

"Aro and Caius will do most of the talking, but Marcus will also be there. Don't be afraid to answer their questions as honestly as you can." Alec adds.

"Don't be worried if Aro asks to shake your hand. Just agree and be prepared for his ice-cold grip." Char continues.

"Caius may look intimidating, but he's a great military leader and will probably ask you a bunch of questions." Alec states a second before I open the doors.

"Your majesties." I state as we enter the throne room and bow before the Kings. "We have brought our recruit to meet you and Char and I both feel he would make a good addition to the Guard."

"Arise children." Aro replies as Alec, Char and I rise from our bowed position. "There is no need for such ceremony right now."

Aro doesn't take his eyes off of Sebastian as he stands from his throne and makes his way down the dais and up to us. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sebastian. Your reputation precedes you. I've heard a great many things about your military service. Please tell me why it is you've decided not to re-enlist?"

"I did my service and was ready for something else." Sebastian replies.

"Interesting. What made you decide to come here today?"

"These lovely ladies promised me that this would be a new start and that's what I wanted." Sebastian replies.

"Also interesting. Do you mind?" Aro asks looking towards Sebastian's hand.

"Not at all." Sebastian states before raising it out and up.

Aro takes Sebastian's hand in his, closes his eyes, and reads every thought Sebastian has ever had. It doesn't take long, mortal minds not being quite as complex as immortal ones, but Aro is beaming by the time he opens his eyes again.

"Brothers," he says excitedly, "I do believe we have an ideal candidate. Impressive skills, impressive instincts that we can certainly hone, and nothing keeping him from joining us that I can see. Marcus, what do you see?"

"The only ties he has are to himself…for now. He doesn't truly trust us, Bella or Charlotte yet, but I can see the bond eventually forming." Marcus states seemingly bored with the conversation.

"If his military prowess is as good as you say, then I see no reason to delay." Caius replies. "Have my daughters take him to the newborn chambers and we will begin his transformation."

"Isabella, Charlotte, you heard your Father. He is to be changed as soon as you get him comfortable. Then I want to see you both in my office. Dismissed."

Char and I don't hesitate before dragging Sebastian out of the room and down to the newborn chambers where we were changed. We didn't have the time or the desire to let him know what we were doing before it happened, but one minute he was lying on the concrete and the next, I had bitten his neck and the insides of both elbows. Char got his knees and ankles. In three days, we'd have a new baby-vamp running amok and I was strangely looking forward to it.

And that was how it went. Every few years, Demetri would fire up the computer, we'd get a few good possibilities, teams were sent to retrieve the candidates, they were interviewed, and if they were a good fit, they stayed. After the first few trips out the Guard had a good routine to work in regards to the candidates and it usually resulted in at least three or four new additions to the ranks.

Aro couldn't be happier with the additions and was usually in such a good mood these days that he spent more time acting like an Uncle than he did a King. His more frequent trips to The Blood Room did not go unnoticed by his brothers, but at least they had the mental capacity to keep their comments to themselves. Marcus was just thrilled that the amounts of research and knowledge that he had of our race was actually being learned properly and that he had students that wanted to learn. Caius, however felt that even though these new Guards had previous experience, they could be better. So he spent most days constructing a new training arena where those with and without gifts could better hone their skills.

This was turning into a great plan and Char and I were thrilled that the Kings had accepted our proposal to add more Guards and better uniforms. The rate we were growing, there would be no vampires on Earth that would be stupid enough to challenge us.

As always, though. Something was bound to fuck up our corner of happiness when we least expected it.


	10. Chapter 10

**I know! It's been far too long! I agree. Life, right? Instead of making excuses for my lack of being here, let me just tell you to enjoy!**

 **UPDATE: THANK YOU to those of you who let me know something was funky with this! I hope this is an improvement.**

 **BPOV**

Char, Demetri, Felix, Chelsea, Alec, Sebastian, Sigrid, and I, along with a contingent of about twenty others had been in Romania for seven months now without managing to gain any ground.

Seven. Months.

I couldn't fucking believe it! None of our other missions had ever lasted this long and a part of me was seriously regretting volunteering for this mission as eagerly as I had. I was beginning to get more than a little frustrated by Stephan and Vladimir, who were a formidable duo on their own, as well as this Maria bitch that the infamous and infuriating Romanians had hired. No matter what we threw at them, they seemed to be as unaffected as if we'd never attacked them at all! And with hardly any effort, too.

Apparently this Maria chick had been one hell of a force to contend with back in the days of the Southern Wars in America. I was beginning to see what all the hype over her was about. I also understood why she was the only one to escape the wrath of the Volturi when they destroyed all of the Southern Armies in the 1940's. She was smart, tactical, strategic, and was unafraid to use those under her command as cannon fodder. It was nearly impossible to catch this bitch unawares and I was beginning to pay the price for underestimating her. We had already lost twelve of our number to her ravenous newborns and I couldn't figure out how she was managing to get the drop on us so often.

I mean, I wasn't an idiot. I was perfectly capable of handling this entire situation as logically and strategically as the next military-minded vamp, but whatever method I tried to get into the Romanian stronghold, no matter how obscure, she managed to counter it seemingly without thought. No matter what defensive strategy we used, we would be outmatched. I even tried using my shield, but was thwarted by another that the Romanians had, Antonio seemed to be Stephan's pride and joy as well as his progeny. The only reason that ass had been turned in the first place was because he was uniquely gifted.

The closest thing that my spies within the Romanian camp could equate it to was that he was a Sorcerer. Now, I know what you're thinking, witch, wizard, warlock, sorcerer, it seems like the same thing considering you have all of the premier paranormal practitioners of Magic, right? Wrong. According to Jane and Alec, who were both burned at the stake for witchcraft, a sorcerer (or sorcereress) is the most powerful form of Magical practitioner. The difference continues into the _intent_ or the motive of the magic being performed and unfortunately that intent was to harm our ranks and strengthen theirs at every single turn. The power Antonio seemed to possess was the magical equivalent of having a Felix-strength bomb dropped in our camp. Repeatedly and with varying frequency. It was exhausting in a way I had never felt since I was turned. I don't want to say that his gift was impossible to counteract when active, but if there was a way around it, I hadn't found it yet.

It was not an easy thing for a Volturi Guard – especially it's Captain – to acknowledge that we were in over our heads, but I was beginning to believe that we may need help. We would need someone who knew Maria's every move before she made it, every thought before she had it, and every order she was given and gave in turn, all before it was made. I didn't know of anyone that knew Maria that well, but then again, I was fairly new to this life. So, I had called my father a few days ago and asked him to look into Maria's life and see if he could find any of the vampires that she had made that were not only still alive, but that would be willing to help us. I had my doubts that there would be anyone that knew her at all, but the longer I stayed here, the more I had to trust that my father and my uncles would find someone.

Thinking about my father and uncles reminded me of how I had ended up in this mess in the first place.

 _It was a normal Wednesday in August in the castle which meant that Heidi was off in Palermo, at the maximum security prison Pagliarelli, getting a busload of their death-row inmates who had maxed out all of their court appeals for us to feed on. No reason to let them rot in an over-crowded jail when we could handle the issue and the cleanup all for the nominal price of there being no questions asked by any of the staff. The last mission that we had was a month ago and Char and I were planning a prank against the ever-vigilant Demetri._

 _We had managed to forgo pranking him as of yet because he was a difficult fucker to prank. We had to be sneaky about it because Demetri seemed to know that he was on our hit list and would find reasons to be near us so we couldn't plan anything. Char and I had just managed to ditch Demetri in the gardens when we heard someone yelling for the kings in the courtyard in front of the clock tower. There was a mass departure of Guard members from the castle into the courtyard where they found a vampire that looked more haggard than I had believed possible for our species. Char and I immediately headed to the Throne Room and awaited the entrance of the vampire in question as well as the Kings._

 _It didn't take too long before everyone was gathered in the same place and Aro began speaking. "Why do you cause such a ruckus in the middle of this busy town?"_

 _"I'm sorry my King," the man said bowing lowly, "I would have made my presence known a different way, but the information I carry is of the utmost importance and I was determined to have an audience with you as soon as I got here." I took the time to look at the man that Felix had brought in and found that his dark brown hair was singed on the left side, his face was covered in soot and it looked like he was missing the tip of his nose. His clothes didn't fare much better. His shirt was ripped in several places and I couldn't even tell what color shirt it was supposed to be due to the amount of mud, blood, venom, and several other unidentified substances. His jeans were torn and tattered from the knees down and he didn't have any shoes on._

 _"What information is it that you carry that you forget yourself and how to act in the presence of your Kings?" Caius asked affronted._

 _"It's the Romanians, sire!" he nearly shouts._

 _You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed his statement._

 _Aro walked down to the floor from the dais to meet him. "Please, let me read you so I can see what you've seen."_

 _The man grabs Aro's hand so tightly that if he were human, it would have been painful. All Aro does is close his eyes at the onslaught of information and wait until he's gathered what he needs._

 _"This man had a coven that was destroyed at the hands of Stephan and Vladimir." Aro stated as he lifted his head and looked towards his brothers. "Three days ago the Romanians came to his home in Poland, tried to recruit the coven to overthrow us, and when they refused, the Romanians killed all four members. He only escaped because he was finishing a hunt when they showed up and was on his way back. He saw everything and knew that the only place he could go to for help was here."_

 _"You were right to come to us for help." Marcus states quietly._

 _"Why do you look the way you do if you escaped?" Caius asks._

 _"I may have been on my way back to my home when the Romanian scum showed up, but that doesn't mean they didn't notice me, sire. I ran and I was hunted. I fought for my life against rabid and vicious vampires that seemed to come from every direction."_

 _"Those stupido cazzo Romanians!" Caius shouts."Incredibile. Avrei saputo che quegli idioti avrebbero provato qualcosa._

 _As Caius continued to rant in Italian, Aro ignored him and made his way back to the dais far more somber than he'd been several minutes ago._

 _"We knew it was only a matter of time, brother." Aro says solemnly. The look he gave his brothers would have gone unnoticed by those that didn't know him well, but to those of us that did, his eyes shone with a ferocity that I hadn't seen in years._

 _"It has been far too long that we've let those scum continue to live. I want a contingent of soldiers to head for Poland immedialtely, follow their trail, and end them once and for all!" Caius demands of his brothers._

 _"I will go." I reply stepping forward. "It would be pointless for me to waste my talents here when I could be put to use ridding the world of these pests."_

 _"Are you sure you can handle this child?" Aro asks concerned._

 _"I believe with the right soldiers I could take out this threat fairly quickly." I reply confidently._

 _"Who did you have in mind?" Marcus asks._

 _"I'll need Demetri, Felix, Alec, and Charlotte for certain. Anyone else from the Guard who wants the chance to go is more than welcome to come with me." I reply._

 _"I have a dossier on both Stephan and Vladimir that will benefit you. Please meet me in my office and I will have them prepared for you." Marcus replied._

 _"We leave within the hour." I stated confidently as I bowed to my Kings, walked from the room and headed towards Marcus' office._

 _"Are you sure this is a good idea, Bells?" Char asks running to catch up with me._

 _"It'll be simple with who all we have coming." I reply. "Besides, you mean to tell me that you haven't been getting a bit bored since our last mission ended?"_

 _"No. I'm not saying that at all." Char replies honestly.  
_

 _ _"Then what are you saying?" I ask as I turn to face her right o__ _utside Marcus' office door._

 _"I'm saying that I don't like this situation at all." She states looking into my eyes as if trying to convey a message without speaking. "Something about this doesn't sit right with me. It worries me that after the Kings took control of the vampire world from the Romanians as long ago as they did, why didn't Caius and Aro just end them when they had the chance? Why did they let those two snakes live when they could have prevented this whole thing centuries ago? Why have the Romanians gone a melinnia without attacking before now? What changed to give them the confidence they needed to stage a coup? I just don't believe that we have all the correct answers to those questions."_

 _"We have the correct answers to those questions, Char. Our Father wants them filling an urn on his desk and that's all the answer I need to do this." I replied getting a bit aggravated with her need to justify this mission. "The Romanians clearly think that they've waited long enough that we wouldn't be expecting an attack from them. They want the option to be back in charge and make the decisions again."_

 _"No. You don't know that. You assume that you have the right answers. You assume to know what their endgame is and you assume to know why they've decided to strike now." Char replies adamantly. "I just hate having the feeling that we're gonna regret this mission in a big way."_

 _"You don't know the Romanian's motives either, so don't give them the benefit of the doubt!" I nearly shout at her. "They are our family's sworn enemies! Clearly they have no respect for life human or vampire if the victim currently in the Throne Room is to be believed, and frankly, I'm inclined to believe him after the proof I saw." I state angrily as I start ticking the evidence off on my fingers, "The burns, the clothes, Aro even read him for God's sake! I'm not willing to question my family and their motives when they have been nothing but kind and welcoming to us from the beginning of this life. They could have easily killed us, but instead chose to change us and make us a part of their family. I don't know about you, but I will be forever grateful for the life they've given me. I would defend this family to my final death without question. I would expect you to feel the same way."_

 _"I'm so glad you feel that passionately about this life, daughter." Caius says coming down the hallway towards us with Marcus following closely behind._

 _"It isn't that I don't feel the same way, Father. I do." Charlotte replies looking between myself and Caius._

 _"Then what seems to be the problem, child?" Caius asks curiously._

 _"I just need answers, Father. Something doesn't feel quite right about this mission and I want to understand why I feel this way. I have never questioned an order or a mission because I know you have my best interests at heart. Why else would I have reason to be hesitant if I didn't think this was going to go our way?" Char asks somberly._

 _"Why don't we go into my office and I'll answer any questions you have about this. Would that make you feel better, my dear niece?" Marcus asks._

 _"Please." Char replies as Marcus opens the door and ushers all of us in._

 _"Now, where do I start?" Marcus asks Char and myself as we make ourselves comfortable on the chairs in front of his desk. Caius just chooses to stand behind us and I can't help but think how grounding his presence is in this moment. I may have let my attitude get away from me, but I don't regret anything I said. I'm eternally grateful to Caius for taking us in and adopting us. Now I know he knows exactly how grateful._

 _"We have forgone much of your education into the history of Vampires and that fault lies with us. However, we are prepared to remedy that oversight now. Charlotte," Marcus says getting her attention, "you asked Isabella why we let Sefan and Vladimir live after we overthrew them. I think the more pertinent question is what brought us to war with them so long ago? Perhaps if we start from the beginning, all of your questions will be answered before you have the chance to ask, yes?"_

 _Char and I nodded our heads in the affirmative so he would continue._

 _"Very well, you know that the myth of the Vampire has been around for far longer than even I have been, and that unfortunately that myth had to start somewhere. All myths and ledgends start from History. Then those historical stories become exaggerated over the years and years of their repeated telling. No one alive remembers who the first Vampire was. Some say it was Lillith, others disagree and say it was Vlad Tepes, from whom the Dracula story was told, then there are others that disagree with both. The point is we exist. Whether through magic, deals with the devil, demons on earth, or another reason entirely, we do not know. We just know that we live human and mortal lives and when we die, we awaken once more to a vastly different existence._

 _The Romanian coven has a lot to do with where the Vampire myths come from, though. In Ancient times, a group of ambitious vampires called a truce to the usual squabbling between small covens and joined forces for the purpose of gaining power. This group became the Romanian Coven and was once the biggest coven in the world. There was a problem with this coven, though. They never dared to keep their existence a secret. The Romanians, along with the Ancient Egyptian Coven, willingly let the people of their lands know what they were. They were seen as living gods and were worshiped as such. Humans were brought to them for their pleasure, whether that be feeding on them, changing them, or taking their carnal pleasures from them. It was despicable the way they acted and even more appalling in the way they were fawned over. What's worse, they treated those humans around them with cruelty and disdain. Like they were lesser strictly because they hadn't been turned yet._

 _Aro, Caius, Athenodora, and myself formed the early version of the Volturi Coven, but we were located in Greece at the time. Your mother, Athena bore witness to the horrors that were how the Romanians ruled the Vampire world, or they didn't run it, really. When she showed up back in Greece from a trip she had taken, she told us all what had transpired. We all then chose to take a trip to view this heinousness ourselves. Not that we didn't value Athena's opinion on the situation, but women were held to a different standard back then and as men, we felt the need to go ourselves. We all knew then that the barbarity of the Romanians had to stop and that we could, with time, patience, and numbers, end their terrible rule. Once we returned to Greece, we made that our home base as we proceeded to gather vampires with useful talents to build up our power. Whereas the Romanians had more physically imposing Vampires as underlings for them, we chose to be more selective with our coven members in that they had to have some sort of supernatural ability for us to even consider them. Eventually when we gathered our forces, we moved our merry band here to Volterra and we've been here ever since._

 _Once we felt our force was a match for theirs, we challenged their authority. The war lasted for roughly a century and we lost many on both sides. The Romanian downfall was that they placed no stock in supernatural abilities from some vampires, whereas we very much did and, in fact, sought them out. When we attacked their stronghold, we thought everyone inside had perished, but we found out later that Sefan, Vladimir, and Vladimir's mate had managed to escape before the castle was destroyed. It is no wonder they have harbored such resentment towards us since then. They even tried to overthrow us not too long after our victory. They attacked us with over one hundred Vampires they had recruited to their side hoping to overwhelm us with numbers, but we had acquired Jane and Alec by that time and, when given the order by Aro, the twins unleashed their power and the enemy was overcome. Victory was assured at that point and easy to destroy. I believe Vladimir's mate was also a casualty of that attack. I'm still unsure of why Stefan and Vladimir were not with the rest of their hoard to attack us, but we do know that they have not tried to reform their coven until now."_

 _"How do you know that?" Char asks._

 _"Oh my dear girl, because every few decades, Aro sends Demetri to seek them out and see what they are up to, which forces the Romanians to constantly move and be on their guard. Since they posed little to no threat to the Volturi up till now, the two of them were always left to their own devices." Marcus replies calmly. "Now, does that answer any questions that you had?"_

 _"It answers most of them, yes." Charlotte replies._

 _"I feel any other questions that you have about this particular mission cannot be answered by anyone here in this room. You may just have to go with Bella and find the answers to your other questions on your mission." Marcus replies._

 _"Now, if you are satisfied, you have to be leaving in the next few minutes." Caius reminds us. "Make sure you're packed for an extensive stay, I have a feeling you may be there a while."_

Unfortunately for us, he and Char weren't wrong. This was nothing like we had faced before and I was coming to the unpleasant realization that I was sorely unprepared for what we were facing. I was more than ready to end this campaign and go home, but we couldn't leave until we were done, which it didn't look like we would be for a while, or we were called away. What is it they say; 'no rest for the wicked'? Frankly it seemed to us that the only ones that weren't getting rest were certainly not the wicked ones. The wicked themselves seemed to be fairly and amazingly well rested if their constant barrage was anything to go by. Plus, they seemed to have an infinite number of newborns that they kept, apparently, conjuring out of thin air. I had tried finding out when, where, how often they hunted, and what type they were looking for, but still couldn't manage to see any sort of pattern. It just seemed so random.

What made it worse was the magic surrounding this place. We had managed to find the Romanians and their army inside their newly rebuilt fortress in the heart of the Carpathian Mountains. It would have been no trouble at all to storm the place and wipe everyone out, if not for the annoying Sorcerer they had in their midst. There was some sort of barrier that prevented us from coming within two miles in any direction of their fortress and we had to solely rely on spies in order to get the information we needed.

Honestly, I hated working with spies. They were untrustworthy and I would have preferred to just handle things myself, but Char insisted on using the ones that she trained herself, so I agreed. We got updates every couple of hours and waves of newborns attacking us during the lulls. It was better than trying our hands at going in there ourselves, which wouldn't have worked at all considering our faces are as recognizable as Felix or Demetri's and we would have been torn apart on sight.

Luckily, my Father had chosen a great opportunity to call with new information, but no he wasn't going to give it over the phone and no, he wasn't running here either. Char and I needed a break so he was sending the jet to pick us up, take us home, and he would be more than happy to divulge the information he had once we were safely at home. I saw no downside to his plan and Char didn't either, so we packed our stuff, left Felix and Demetri in charge, and finally headed back home for some well deserved R&R.

 **AN: Italian translations from Google translate:"stupido cazzo – stupid fucking**  
 **Incredibile. Avrei saputo che quegli idioti avrebbero provato qualcosa. - Unbelievable. I might have known those idiots would try something.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Two chapters in two days! Amazing! I know, I'm excited too.**

 **I will tell you that there is some F/F slash in this chapter. It has been marked. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **BPOV**

"Isabella and Charlotte, your father wants to see you." Jane tells us as Char and I enter the castle.

"We wouldn't be here otherwise, Jane." Char replies snarkily.

"He's in the throne room." she replied studiously ignoring Char's response. "Glad to have you two back. It's been rather boring since you two left. Too quiet around here the past few months."

"Aww, Jane" Char said sickeningly sweetly as she gave Jane puppy eyes and opened her arms to give Jane a hug, "I thought you hated how loud and obnoxious we were. I'm so happy to know that you missed us so terribly."

Jane, understandably, looked absolutely terrified at the thought of hugging Char and did her best to avoid it before I grabbed Char's arm and began dragging her down the hallway.

"Thank you, Jane." I shout over my shoulder while still gripping Char's arm hard enough to hurt.

I was extremely happy to be back home. I had missed this place terribly. Nothing had changed while we had been away, but I hadn't really expected it to considering Aro's aversion change, and that's one of the reasons I loved it here. Even the smells were the same. You don't really know what memories a scent can bring up until you haven't smelled it in a while. It had been far too long since I'd had the opportunity to come back, but the Romanians had to be dealt with and if it weren't for this summons, I'd probably still be in Romania now.

We walk into the throne room to see Aro, Caius, and Marcus sitting on their respective thrones awaiting our arrival. I assume that this is to be a formal meeting between the Captain of their Guard, her Lieutenant, and the Kings in order to report our findings on the Vladimir/Stephan/Maria front.

We bow before the Kings before I begin, "Aro, they number nearly three hundred now. Maria keeps adding more newborns and Vladimir and Stefan are training them into quite a formidable Army. It won't be long before they storm us." I tell him.

"Where are you getting your information from, Captain?" Caius asks formally, following my lead.

I don't have time to reply before Char interrupts, "From reliable sources, sire. Our spies put themselves on the line to get us the most accurate information we can get."

"How do we know our spies are reliable, Lieutenant?" Caius counters. His lack of trust in spies mirrors my own.

"I trained them myself." She states simply. "They are the best and, courtesy of Chelsea, they cannot be persuaded to change sides."

"Aro," I begin, "I know that you say the Guard are enough to handle this. Numbers mean nothing to us, you know that we could handle three hundred without worry, but against the training that both the Romanians and Maria are giving their Army, as well as the Sorcerer they harbor, we need a better strategist and I am not ashamed to admit that is not me. We've been dancing around this entire Romanian problem for months and that is far too long without decent results. I may be good at what I do, but even I know when I'm not good enough to handle this alone. We need someone that everyone respects and will be willing to go into battle with. We need help that only you can get for us."

"That's why I've brought you here from the front lines, daughter. I have news that will benefit the entire Guard." Caius replies with a satisfied smile.

"You've found someone to help?" Char asks hopeful.

"Even better." Caius begins, "Before I tell you who it is, I need to tell you why I believe this person will be of help to us. Now, from what you've told me, the vampire that the Romanian's have hired to do their dirty work is a vampire named Maria. From the descriptions that you've given us, and from the ferocity and savagery that you've told us she's capable of, we believe this is the same Maria that was a key player during the Southern Vampire Wars in the Southern United States and Mexico. At the height of her power, she turned a Confederate Soldier who showed promise. This soldier wound up being more valuable to Maria than she could have imagined. He was originally turned for his military prowess, but an added benefit that no one saw was his gift. He was an empath, and used his gift to manipulate the rage and the bloodlust that came with being a newborn. This gift was so incredibly impressive that Maria made him her second-in-command and was referred to as 'The Major'. He was in charge of all of her newborns and was very good at handling those that got too out of line. Some say that they were lovers, others disagree and say they hated each other, but regardless, he didn't try to leave. They stayed in power for several decades until Maria got greedy over more territory. Worse still, she grew suspicious of the Major and tried to move against him and end his existence. Luckily though, a friend that the Major had made during the Wars helped him escape the grasp of that she-devil. From what I understand, he's been in a kind of self-imposed witness protection ever since."

"Ok, I'm following you so far" I manage "but I'm still confused. First, how is he going to help? Second, will he even be willing to help? And third, how do we know he won't turn on us?"

"All good questions, my dear." Aro exclaims. "He won't turn on us because he hates his maker and would be thrilled to see harm come to her. He's going to help because we're the Kings and he doesn't have much of a choice, really. Finally, his knowledge is what we need to get the drop on her. Once we take Maria and the Sorcerer out, the Romanians will be easy to handle. I have a feeling that the Major can assist us in our efforts with both."

"And you've found him?" I ask finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

"We've found him." Caius states with a smug grin.

"As much as I'm loathe to ask for outside help of any sort, we need it, please tell me the Major is being brought in, Aro. If he has near the experience you say he does, especially with Maria, we need him in order to get rid of this nuisance once and for all." I state candidly.

"My dearest Isabella," Aro begins, "we have already sent the summons. My sources have told me that the Major is now living in Texas with his progeny, Captain Peter Whitlock. I'm hoping to get both of them to show, but I would be happy with just the Major."

"Sir," Char interrupts, "We don't need to tell them what the meeting is about until they get here, do we? I hate to think they would refuse strictly on the grounds that it's Maria they're going up against."

"No. I worded the request in a way that they had no choice but to show up here, but they don't know what for." Aro replies.

"That response sounds ominous." I reply worried. "How did you word it?"

"Short, sweet, and to the point." Aro replies. "I simply said that I needed their assistance with a matter. Nothing more."

"Then why do I get the feeling that you're hiding something?" I ask suspiciously. I can't help but notice how Marcus' and Aro's eyes immediately move to Caius.

"Father?" I ask. "Is there something you wish to tell me?"

"I feel its better if you know now rather than later." Caius states calmly as he shifts in his chair. "The Major is none other than Major Jasper Whitlock. You would know him better as Jasper Hale."

"A Cullen, huh?" I ask sourly. "I might have known."

"No. Not a Cullen anymore. Approximately fifty years ago or so he left their family. It seems right about the time you came into the picture, correct?" Aro asks.

"Yes sir." I reply. "Just please tell me that the rest of them aren't coming, too?"

"Not until you're ready for them to." Caius replies.

"Do-do they know about me?" I ask worried. I refused to let the Cullen's tarnish what life I had here. I was terrified that if they found out I was here, they'd barge in and try to take me from my family.

"No. I swore to you that they would know nothing of your existence until you were ready for them to know." Caius replies. "But working with the Major and using his knowledge to our benefit would also mean that you would be seeing him in person, Isabella. Are you sure you are ready to see him again?"

"He is the only one of the Cullen's that I'm not really angry at, Father." I reply. "Besides, I never really got the chance to get to know him well enough to form an opinion on him when I was human. He was always kept away from me. I don't think we'll be having the same issues this go 'round considering my present state."

"Very well. We would request that you and Charlotte stay here and observe the new recruits until the Whitlock's arrival." Caius replies. "Hopefully they are up to par enough that you can take some of them back to Romania with you."

I thanked the Kings for everything they had done to help and was just about to turn for the door when I was stopped by Marcus.

"Isabella, there is one more thing that we need to discuss with you." He says hesitantly.

I look at the Kings a bit perplexed before Marcus continues, "You brought up the Cullen's." he says with a sneer, "I have information on them that might concern you. I did not wish to bring this information to your attention, but if I don't I feel I would be betraying the trust you have put in me."

I could tell from the looks the Kings were currently giving me that this was no longer a formal meeting, but instead more of a private family meeting. I knew whatever it was I was about to hear was not going to be good and I immediately looked to Char for support. She grabbed my hand and held it in her own as we waited for whatever news our uncle had for us.

I hated the Cullen's and everyone in the Volturi knew it. After my change, I was promised by everyone in the Guard that my presence here was to be a secret from the Cullen's until I was ready to see them. I had a feeling that whatever this news was, I would be seeing them soon, whether I was ready to or not.

"Go on." I said.

Marcus continues, "After your initial report of what had happened to you in regards to Edward Cullen when you first came to us, I had the Cullen's placed under surveillance. At Aro's behest, a former Guard member who is on good terms with the Cullen's, Eleazar who is currently a part of the Denali Coven, was able to implant bugs in their various houses so we could keep a constant watch on their goings-on. We also sent out requests for information on the Cullen's from any vampires that may have known them in the past several centuries. We avoided the rest of the Denali's, and of course we avoided the Cullen's themselves, but we did get one very interesting piece of information from Irina Denali, who has been loyal to us since her maker was burned, but that's neither here nor there." He waves a hand dismissively.

"Anyway," he continues, "in the years prior to when you met them, Irina noticed something peculiar about young Edward. It seems that every 3 decades or so, he will 'fall in love' with a human girl. The relationships themselves never seem to last long, we aren't sure why, but once those relationships end, the Cullen's vanish off the radar for a few years before they are back in the fold of society under a different alias. We don't know if it's true love, or if he's just playing with them, but considering your history, this news had us concerned."

I was shocked to hear that I had not been Edward's first, but disgust quickly overrode shock. "What the hell?" I asked appalled. What did this mean? Did he just use me? If he did, what was it for? Why would he risk his family being outed to the whole community and it possibly getting back here? What good would any of that do? Furthermore, when did it _start_ and how long has it been going on?

"Oh, it gets weirder." Aro states as he takes over from Marcus. "Although it has been more than 30 years since your relationship with the Cullen, we have heard reports that he has once again found a human mate in a high school girl. This one he also can't hear the thoughts of. Apparently all he gets from her brain are colors."

"That doesn't make any sense!" I all but shout. "Why would he risk outing his 'family' like that, especially to us? And why on earth would he be interested in a girl he can't read?"

Caius steps down from his throne to wrap his arms around Char and I in a fatherly embrace. "As of now, we are unsure, but since he is under surveillance, we may be able to figure out his endgame this time. However, eventually we will require the presence of the Cullen's here in Volterra for a formal questioning. Please be prepared for this." He replies. "We will keep you updated to the situation as we receive news, but in the meantime, I think you need to decompress and figure out what your next step is." He looks down at me with kind eyes and I can see he hated having to reveal that news, but I know that he would never keep that from me unless it was for my own good.

I hated to admit it, but my Father was right. I did need to decompress and figure out what I was going to do about the whole Army situation, the Whitlock situation, and the Cullen's were a distraction I didn't need or want right now. I took a deep, cleansing breath and said, "Thank you for telling me about the Cullen's. Please do keep me updated as you hear news. Also, keep in mind that if you need someone on the inside, the blonde, Rosalie may be willing to help you. She hated me with an absolute passion because I was human, and I'm sure that if she knows what plans Edward has, she would be more than willing to share them with someone that actually has the authority to do something about it."

"Thank you, daughter" Caius replies, "we will take that into consideration, but for now we're just gathering information. There's no need to fret over the Cullen's just yet. Why don't you go visit your mother for a while, hmm? I'm sure she would love to see you after you've been away for so long. And a good trip to the Blood Room may also be in order to help you relax."

"I will take that under advisement." I reply, turning to head back out of the throne room. "Could I ask two favors, though?"

"Of course, my dear. What are your requests?" Caius asks.

"Could you find out what happened to those other girls Edward claimed to 'love'? I'm not sure, but I have a hunch something isn't right about them." I state thinking that there may be a system or theme to the girls he's claiming to love. "Could you also make sure that the invitation you send to the Cullen's requires them to be here three months after Major Whitlock gets here? I don't want to be overwhelmed with Cullen drama while I'm preparing the Guard for battle and I have a feeling that the Major will help us take the Romanians out in short order."

"I'll have Alec and Demetri look into the other girls right away." Aro says calmly. "We'll also ask Major Whitlock if he knew of anything while he lived with them. As for your other request, I can completely understand the need for them not to be here causing all sorts of chaos while you, Charlotte, and the Major are preparing for a battle this big. Three months would also give us the opportunity to do some fact gathering so we know as much as we can before they arrive."

I took my leave of the Kings shortly after and made my way back to our chambers, Char following behind silently and leaving me to my thoughts. Our father was right, I did have a lot of decompressing to do about the information I had gathered over the past day. I had to find a way to win the impending battle before things got out of hand, I had the Cullen's coming out to Volterra soon, and I had Jasper Whitlock to see. I'm not sure which I was more nervous about.

Once we made it back to our room, I collapsed on the couch, closed my eyes, and tried clearing my mind of the Cullen's and all the drama they seemed to bring. Char had been extremely quiet while I gathered my thoughts and it was very unlike her. I opened my eyes to see what she might be up to, but found myself alone in the living room and felt a bit disappointed that she had wanted to leave. I couldn't really blame her, though. I wasn't in a mood to really do much other than wallow in my hatred of the Cullen's and wonder what Edward's end game might be.

That thought alone disturbed me. In my years as a vampire, I'd seen some shit. I had seen everything from angry mobs of irrational newborns, to the use of humans as kept pets to feed from, to vampires torturing humans for sport. Those crimes alone are punishable by burning and I was glad to have had a hand in the punishments dealt. It had seemed like the vampires responsible had gotten off far too easy in my opinion, but I doled out punishments as my father and uncles saw fit.

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why every 30 years would be significant to Edward in some way, nor could I figure out why he would tell these humans that he had fallen in love with them. I was one of those humans a long time ago and it destroyed me. Had it not been for the military life I loved, I was sure I'd be truly dead. The simple fact that I was apparently not the first and, as of now, certainly not the last to be subjected to his 'love', had me feeling sorry for the poor human that got wrapped up in Cullen's shit.

However, my pity for the human was only a fleeting emotion. The one I felt the most was hate. I knew I would be seeing the fuckers sooner than I had wanted to, but I also knew that it was time. I couldn't keep running from my past because it would inevitably catch up to me, and now due to this development, it would catch up with me in three months.

My thoughts were halted as I heard the water in Char's Jacuzzi tub kick on. Apparently she was going to enjoy her evening in a relaxing bath. Good for her. She needed the luxury of relaxing after the mission we just returned from. I can only hope that she leaves some of that lavender scented bath oil for me to use later because I'm not using the sickly sweet strawberry that Jane seems to enjoy.

I don't have the opportunity to let those thoughts sit before I'm being thrown over Char's shoulder quicker than I had thought she could move. I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed her presence in the room at all before she got to me. I can't help the squeal of protest that escapes me, but she doesn't put me down until we're in her bathroom. She stands and looks at me knowingly before she starts to remove my clothes. "Char what…" I begin, but I'm thwarted as she places a hand over my mouth and just replies with, "Shush."

I let her continue to strip me of my clothes, boots, and underwear before I realize that she too is completely naked. I think I might just enjoy where this evening is headed after all. I reach my hands out for her, but she simply slaps them away and I can't help but sigh in annoyance. She obviously wants to take care of me, so I suck it up and let her do what she has planned.

Once my clothes are removed, she grabs my hand and leads me to the tub. We both get in and I can smell the lavender bath oil as our movements disturb the water. Char pushes me down onto a seat and immediately straddles me. My hands come up and rest themselves on her hips of their own accord, and other than a raised brow at me, she doesn't mention them or react to move them. Instead she takes my head and leans it back on the side of the tub and proceeds to give me a very welcome massage along my forehead and temples. After a few moments, her fingers work their magic around the back of my head and down the back and sides of my neck. I moan in pleasure when she finds a tight muscle at the top of one of my shoulders and proceeds to work it out for me.

As her hands work their way across my shoulders, I feel her full lips press against mine and my reaction is immediate. I grab her hips tighter and pull her body closer to mine before running my hands up her back and into her hair. Our kiss opens and deepens and our tongues fight for dominance against one another. As I go to take one of her perky nipples in my mouth, she gets off my lap, pulls me to the stairs, shoves me on the top step of the Jacuzzi, and spreads my knees apart so she can see all of me. She kneels on the last step of the tub and pulls me closer to her so she's kneeling in between my legs.

She resumes her passionate kisses and I'd be an idiot not to reciprocate, but she doesn't stay at my mouth long before she's moving down the column of my neck and down to my breasts. Her hands have been busy running themselves all over my arms and legs and up my hips and over my ribs, but when her hands reach my breasts, her mouth does too. She takes my right nipple in her mouth and gently sucks on it while her right hand tweaks and rolls my left nipple in her deft fingers. My body arches into her mouth and my hands fist themselves in her hair. I can't help but growl in pleasure and her answering growl has me so wet that I'm not entirely sure where I begin and the water ends.

Her left hand slowly begins its decent to the apex of my thighs and another growl escapes me when I feel two of her fingers enter me as her thumb gently circles my clit. My hands leave her hair and I grip onto her left arm with my right hand desperately, not wanting her to pull her extremely skilled fingers away from me. My left hand has found its way to one of her breasts and I'm currently kneading it and rolling one of her nipples in between my fingers.

She still has one of my nipples in her mouth and refuses to let up on it. She swipes her tongue over the hardened peak, gently nibbles on it, and sucks ever harder. Her thumb picks up its pace and pressure on my clit to match the sweet torture her mouth is giving me. I can feel the familiar coil in my belly tighten, and I know it's only a matter of time before I'm coming. Her fingers pump in and out of me relentlessly and she curls them to reach that spot that has me seeing stars as my orgasm overtakes me.

She continues to pump her fingers in and out of me as I come back down from Cloud 9 and once I'm back, she kisses me thoroughly. I take the opportunity to turn the both of us and sit her down on one of the seats in the tub. Her body is mostly under the water and I can see the confusion on her face, but I know it won't be there long. It's a very good thing that we don't need to breathe, because my goal will not allow me to for a while.

I don't hesitate and I don't tease her before I'm under the water and have her legs thrown over my shoulders. I can see her glistening pussy and I know that she's ready. I brush my fingers along the outside of her thighs before I grab her ass with my left hand to keep her exactly where I want her. My right hand trails up her inner thighs and once they've reached where she wants them most, I remove them…temporarily and use my tongue to lick her opening from bottom to top. I let my tongue work her clit while I bring my fingers back to her opening and insert two fingers into her. I can hear her growling above the waterline, but I can't really answer her underwater, so instead I take her bundle of nerves and gently suck on it as I thrust my fingers inside her. I feel her wriggling above me and I've never been more glad that I kept a hand free to keep her still. I can tell she's getting close, if the persistence of her moans and growls is any indication, so I gently bite down on her clit as I curl my fingers up to her sweet spot and she throws her head back and her inner muscles clamp on my fingers with the force of her orgasm. I stay down there, licking and sucking to bring her back down as she rides her high out before I remove her legs and rise up out of the water.

"Damn I needed that." Char states dazed.

I can't help but chuckle. "I know exactly what you mean, but I didn't know I needed it." I state as I move to another seat in the tub.

"That's why you have me." Char states cheekily adding a wink.

We both sit there for a while just relaxing with each other and enjoying our sated and content silence. As the water begins to cool, we actually do manage to wash ourselves, but once we get out and begin to dry off, Char asks "Whatever happens with this whole Cullen clusterfuck, you know I'll be there for ya, right?"

"I know Char and I appreciate it more than you can imagine." I reply honestly.

"We'll get through these next few months together. Like we always have and we always will and I have faith that we'll come out better for it." Char states simply as she wraps her arms around me in a calming embrace.

We stand there for some time just holding each other. Her presence has always been a calming one to me and I honestly think I would have lost my mind on several occasions without her. She always seems to know exactly what I need and how I need it without even thinking about it. I have never been more grateful than in this moment that I asked our father to change her before me.

"Now," Char states after a while, "I believe you promised that we would visit mother now that we're back."

"I believe you're right." I reply.

"Well, hop to it, then! We don't want to leave her waiting."

"No. No we do not." I state as I move to my room and my wardrobe to put on something a bit more appropriate to visit the Queens than just a towel. "She'd have both our heads on a silver platter delivered to her door if we forgot about her."

Char just laughs as she gets dressed. We meet each other back in the common area and Char hooks her arm under mine as we head out the door to see Athena. I know that there are a lot of changes coming up in my life soon, but I've never been happier to know that I won't face any of this alone. The Volturi are my family and they will stand by me through whatever comes.

 **A/N: I know you're probably wondering when the other characters will enter this story. Fret not! I said at the beginning of this story that it would be slow burn. 11 Chapters in and we've not had the main characters meet yet? No. However, it's coming soon, I swear. Just keep reading, and giving feedback. It helps the muse.**


	12. Chapter 12

**No copyright infringement intended! I own nothing except the plot. I bet you're more than ready to have this fucker enter the picture, yeah? I am too. I never thought I'd get here.**

 **Mentions of M/M slash. You've been warned.**

 **JPOV**

"Hey, Major! It looks like you've got mail." Peter shouts from the mailbox. I wonder what it could possibly be. The last time I ever got anythin' that I couldn't order online was another weddin' invitation for Em and Rose and that was about fifty years ago. Five years after we left Forks and my entire life changed.

That stupid birthday party still haunts me. I can't believe I went after Bella that way. I wish that I could go back and apologize to her, but that's impossible. I had tried to go back about a year after we left, but she wasn't there anymore and I never bothered trackin' her down. I didn't see the point. She's probably in her seventies by now anyway and I'd be surprised if she even remembered me.

Alice and I fought soon after that disaster. I was depressed and remorseful and she just couldn't stand me anymore. She said that she _'couldn't babysit'_ me and that it was best that we ended things between us because she needed someone she could rely on. Needless to say I was offended at her assumption that I needed to be watched and that I wasn't reliable, I was Major Jasper Whitlock for Christ's sake. So I called Jenks to get the divorce papers ready, grabbed anythin' out of the house that I wanted to keep, and drove to Seattle to stay until the divorce was finalized.

After that, I just drove. I had no idea where I was going or what I was doing, but I knew I needed to get as far away from the Cullen's as I could. It wasn't until I pulled onto the dirt path to the Whitlock Ranch that I realized I was headed home.

Peter was extremely pleased to see me and even more so when I told him about the divorce. I had missed him terribly when I lived with the Cullen's and I didn't realize it fully until I saw that sly grin on his face. He had been my Captain, friend, confidant, brother, and occasional lover when we were with Maria. I had never known how much I had hurt him when I left, nor did I realize how much I had hurt him when I married Alice, but he had always been here for me. Patiently waitin' until I came back. It was obvious by the enthusiastic way he greeted me that he had been lonely since he moved out here to care for the place in my absence. I've never heard him talk so much in my life! Not havin' anyone else here and not havin' a mate will do that to you. So I decided that it was in both of our best interests for me to stay.

I forgot how relaxin' it could be out on the Ranch. No school, no pretendin', no one to watch your every move. It was nice. Pete even managed to get me back on a normal human blood diet statin' that the _'high concentration of animal blood'_ could be a reason for my moody state. This, for an empath who tends to project emotions, isn't good. We only hunt criminals and the dregs of society, so the innocent emotions don't overwhelm me. He also managed to prove to me time and again that I had better control over my instincts after drinkin' human blood. Animal blood kept me so thirsty all the time that I could barely think of anythin' else. The burn was constant. The opposite was true with human blood. I could think, I could control my gift better, and I wasn't in pain anymore. All in all, I was happier here than I had been in a long time.

When I got the weddin' invite from Em and Rose all those years ago, I was shocked that they knew where to send it and even more shocked when I showed up and they didn't care that I had gone back to human blood. I took Pete with me, of course. He and Em got along great and, character that he is, managed to pull pranks on pretty much everyone while we were there. Carlisle and Esme were disappointed at the change in my diet, Edward was smug about it and kept throwin' my _'mistake'_ in my face, and Alice ignored me which was fine by me. It was fun getting back together with those that I had missed, but by the end of the weddin', I was ready to head back to the Ranch.

Other than huntin', I haven't left the Ranch since. Although, huntin' with Pete has become quite the erotic experience which helps me ignore the emotions I feel from my victims. Watchin' him lure and dazzle his prey into followin' him down a dark alley, then while constantly keepin' eye contact with me watchin' him run his nose up and down the chosen vein in his victim's neck, next his tongue will flick out to taste the skin and make the vein rise to the surface, finally he will bite down and suck his victim dry. I'm usually so hard by this point that I'm surprised I haven't burst through any of my pants. I'm so focused on watchin' him that I don't care what my victim is feelin'.

I've also been known to have my way with a prostitute before I drain them. The sex is consensual, of course. I would never force myself upon anyone. I was raised better than that. Vampires have a very high sex drive and most aren't picky where they get their release. I'm no exception and I've accepted that about my nature. I'm not sure why the need for sex is so high, since we can't procreate the way humans do, but I won't complain about it since I seem to reap the benefits.

I hear Pete walking back into the house and it snaps me back to reality. I really don't need to get lost in my thoughts. Especially when there's nothin' I can do about most of them. "Here" Pete says as he hands me a thick envelope.

"It's from Italy." I state as I look at the seal on the back.

"What do the Volturi want with us?" Pete asks.

"No idea. Let's open it and find out." I say as I open the letter.

 _To Major Jasper Whitlock and Captain Peter Whitlock,_

 _I am in need of your assistance in regards to matters that you have knowledge of. I require your presence in Volterra at once. There is a private jet waiting for you at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. I await your arrival._

 _Aro_

"At least it's short, sweet, and to the point." Pete says.

"It says 'matters'. Sounds like it's more than one and makes me wonder what could we possibly have knowledge of that he wants?" I ask.

"No idea, Major, but I'm up for an adventure." Pete replies.

"Pack light. I want to be in and out as quickly as possible." I state.

"Right away, Major." Pete mock salutes before he runs to his room to begin packin'. I swear he's the only one who can get away with that.

I roll my eyes at his antics, then head to my own room to pack. I grab a duffel bag and place a few pairs of jeans, a few long sleeved t-shirts, and a few short-sleeved shirts in the bag before I put on something more suitable than sweats for travelling to Volterra. Dark jeans, a nice black leather belt with a silver "Everything's Bigger In Texas" buckle, my black cowboy boots, a black v-neck t-shirt, and my black Stetson complete my look.

I meet Pete at the front door and he's dressed very similarly. Brown cowboy boots, lighter jeans, brown belt with an understated buckle, white t-shirt, and white Stetson completes his look. I can't help but roll my eyes at how similar our Country-Boy tastes are. We hop in my truck and head toward the airport.

I'm shocked when we get to the jet and see Demetri and Alec waiting for us. It's not unexpected for members of the Volturi to join those requested on their flights. I guess to make sure they don't try anythin' stupid, like run away. What shocks me more is the fatigues they're wearing. I'm used to long black or gray cloaks with hoods, not black and gray army fatigues with black combat boots and either black or gray t-shirts. It looks professional, but it makes me feel like I'm being herded into a military zone. I don't like it. I left the Army life a long time ago and I have no desire to go back to it.

I can see Peter is questionin' this drastic change as much as I am as we walk up to the plane. Demetri steps forward, hand extended as he says "Hello, Major Whitlock." I shake his hand in greeting before he turns to Peter, shakes his hand, and says "Captain Whitlock. It's nice to finally meet you. Please, follow us."

We make our way into the plane and pick our seats. Alec and Demetri follow as soon as we're comfortable. I can feel Peter's curiosity and it doesn't take long before he's overwhelmed by it. "What is with the Army get-up?" he asks.

Demetri answers, "We had…an unwelcome wakeup call about twenty years ago in regards to the way we previously dressed. Our Captain has made sure that there are no more…incidents since then. The place is run like a Military Camp for those of us in the Guard. So we have to dress the part now."

"So why does Aro need us if he has everyone else?" I ask.

"I wasn't told much, Major, except that you and Captain Whitlock have information that we could use." Demetri replies.

"What kind of information?" Peter asks.

I feel a sense of forebodin' as Alec replies, "You've never been beaten in a fight and we could use that expertise now."

The rest of the flight passes in silence. I can feel that Pete is nervous, but excited; Alec is bored, but curious; and Demetri feels threatened, but resigned. As for me, I'm curious, nervous, and worried. It's a curious mixture and I can't wait for Aro to clear some of this mess up.

I haven't given myself over to the Major since Bella Swan's birthday. All he wanted at the time was her blood. I was a monster that day and I don't want to go back to bein' that mindless beast. I spent a hundred years as a killin' machine and the only one to break through that barrier was sittin' next to me. I'm sure that the only others that I know of who can say they've been at the killin' game longer are my sire, Maria; or the Volturi Elite. Why they would need me is mind-bogglin'. They have the best killers in the business. That's why they are Elite.

I'm so lost in my thoughts that I don't realize we've landed until the plane actually stops movin'. Pete and I grab our luggage and head for the car that Aro has sent for us. Demetri and Alec hop in the front, which leaves Pete and I in the back. The way Demetri drives, it doesn't take us long before we're in front of that familiar clock tower and escorted into the guest quarters of the Volturi castle. At least Pete and I get to share a two bedroom suite, although it's a bit lavish for my tastes. The sittin' area has very nice, elaborate antique couches with a huge fireplace and a bookcase that could make me jealous in any other situation. The bedrooms are simple and elegant. I have black silk sheets and a silver comforter on my bed while Pete has red silk sheets and a brown comforter on his. I know why the beds are there, we don't sleep, but we can do other things requirin' a bed. The bathrooms are quite nice, too. Light and airy even with the tile. It reminds me of somethin' Esme might like. And just as a bonus, multi-head showers and a Jacuzzi tub in both bathrooms.

We only get about half an hour to ourselves before Jane shows up and leads us to meet the Kings in the Audience Chamber. Jane, who is also wearing the same Army fatigues and t-shirt that her brother was wearing on the plane, has her hair up in a tight bun. Nothing different from what I've seen her wear before, but there's a different vibe I'm gettin' off her. It's slightly unnervin' me. We make it down several hallways before we come to a pair of giant ornate wooden doors. Once Jane opens the doors and steps through, I get a good look inside. This room hasn't changed much since the last time I was here, visiting on Maria's orders. It's still round, made of stone, has a 3-step rise in the middle where the thrones sit, and has various tapestries hangin' off the walls. It screams 'medieval castle' which I think was the whole point.

Upon the thrones, Aro, Caius, and Marcus are visible, but their attire from last time is quite different. I expected for them to at least be wearing their traditional Volturi robes, but they're not. Aro is dressed sharply in a 3-piece completely black suit with a black tie and dress shirt. Marcus is wearing a black suit too, but with a white dress shirt and a red tie. Caius is wearing a black suit with a red dress shirt and red tie. They look unbelievably…modern and it's kind of odd. Maybe it was a move made in solidarity to the Guard, although I doubt any Captain would have the ability to change their Superior Officer's wardrobe. I guess everyone has to get with the times eventually.

"Major and Captain Whitlock! It's wonderful that you could make it on such short notice!" Aro cheerfully says from the dais as he walks over to us and takes my hand in his, closes his eyes, and stands perfectly still. I don't pull away from his grasp. I know he's reading every memory I've ever had, and since I've lived quite a long time, 216 years or so, there's quite a lot to get through.

"So much information in your mind, Major." Aro says as he looks at me. "Some of this we will discuss now, other information will be better given to the Captain of my Guard."

He then takes Peter's hand and closes his eyes to sift through all of Peter's thoughts. Again, there's quite a lot to get through since Peter's lived nearly as long as I have.

"Captain Whitlock, you have a very interesting way of seeing things." Aro says cryptically as he backs up to the dais.

"Major," he addresses me, "how long were you a part of the Cullen coven?"

Not that he doesn't already know from reading my thoughts, but I answer for Marcus and Caius' sakes. "About fifty years, why?" I reply calmly.

"There was a breach of law during your stay. Do you know of what I speak?" Aro asks.

I should have known this was comin'. To be honest, I'm not surprised he would ask. What I am surprised about is the time it's been between now and that breach. I left that coven decades ago, but I suppose they view time differently when you're over a millennia old. I take an unneeded breath before I begin. "The only thing that I can think of would be Bella Swan. She was human at the time we met, fifty-somethin' years ago, and even though I fought to end her, my coven leader overrode my decision. She was Edward's singer and his mate, but he left her to finish out her natural life without him. As far as I know, she is either dead or gettin' to be that age."

"At least you know of the breach. Although I don't think 68 years is all that old, do you?" He looks at me knowingly. "However, even though you fought to do what was right by law, as punishment for being a part of the coven that allowed a human to know of our existence – without having the intent to turn her – you are to stay and help us until this crisis against the Volturi has abated." Aro states.

I kind of expected to stay until I was released, but if it makes Aro feel better to enforce this 'punishment' on me, then so be it. It could be worse. I just nod at him to affirm that I will do as I'm asked.

"Also, I'm having the rest of your former coven brought up against these and other charges as well. It's about time the breach was dealt with. They should be here in approximately three months." Aro adds.

Again, all I can do is nod. I'm not thrilled that I'll be here when they get here. I know that the weddin' was a happy occasion, but it's been over forty years since I've seen any of 'em. At least I'll be kept busy enough with whatever this crisis is not to think of them too often.

"Captain Whitlock," Caius begins, "you are more than welcome to leave if you so choose, but after you meet with our Captain, you will no longer be given the choice. I will not allow anyone to leave with knowledge of our plans."

Peter doesn't hesitate before sayin', "Where the Major goes, I go."

"Fine. Bring in the Lieutenant and have her take them to the Captain." Caius says dismissively.

As we watch Jane leave I can't help but wonder what we've gotten ourselves into. We don't have to wait long before Jane returns with a pretty petite blonde woman who could be Jane's older sister. She has the same high bun, the same color fatigues, and the same military bearing, but that's where the similarities end. She's stunning! She has on a dark gray tank top to show off her toned arms, curves that most women would kill for, an ass that could leave me beggin', and a chest that was made for titty fuckin'. Apparently I'm not the only one who is completely taken by this beauty. Pete's eyes haven't left her form since she walked in and he has never desired anything more than her. Ever. I can feel it. She doesn't look at us, but instead turns her attention to the Kings.

"Aro, you called for me?" she asks.

"Yes Lieutenant. I understand that you're busy planning right now, but I have brought Major Whitlock and Captain Whitlock for assistance with the Guard." Aro says.

She turns to face us and her attention is immediately caught by Peter. Her face doesn't show any emotion at all, but I can tell she is attracted to him. Very attracted. She closes her eyes for a brief moment, seemin' to collect herself before statin', "Gentlemen, please follow me."

She turns her back on us and I can feel her self-chastisement and embarrassment, probably in regards to her reaction to Peter, as we follow her down yet another hallway.

"I will have your new fatigues delivered to your rooms in the morning." She begins still looking away, "for now, you can observe our training techniques and starting tomorrow, you will be asked to improve and upgrade the techniques you saw today."

"Not a problem, ma'am." I state in my thick southern drawl. Peter just growls and rolls his eyes at me.

"It's Lieutenant." She replies sharply. "I didn't work this hard just to be called 'ma'am' for all eternity. When I'm in fatigues it's either Lieutenant or Lieutenant Volturi, when I'm in civilian dress, you may call me ma'am or you may call me Charlotte."

"Volturi?" I ask.

"Yes. I don't remember my human name, so my sister and I took the name of our Maker and Father, Caius." She replies.

We make it to another set of double doors. These are slightly less ornate, but no less forebodin'. As Charlotte opens the door directly in front of us, she quickly ducks just as somethin' goes flyin' through the air at her head. I manage to spin out of the way of the airborne object, but Peter gets hit directly in the chest and goes flyin' into the stone wall behind him.

I walk over to Peter to try and help, but I can't help the chuckle that escapes me. He's sprawled out on the floor with a dazed look on his face and another man on top of him.

"Private Alexander!" Charlotte shouts at the man on top of Peter. He immediately gets up and stands at attention so Charlotte can finish with him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! I told you to attack! Flying backwards into our guests doesn't count!"

"I did attack, Lieutenant!" He explains as I help Peter up off the floor. "She threw me back into the door when I went in for the kill shot!"

"How did she throw you?" Charlotte asks intrigued and far less angry than she was a moment ago.

"I don't know, Lieutenant!" He replies. "One minute I had my hands around her neck, and the next I was airborne!"

"Attack her again, Private!" Charlotte commands excitedly. "This time I want to see everything!"

Charlotte takes us into what is obviously a training room. It's huge. At least the length of two football fields and there are at least twenty soldiers fightin' each other. Memories from my time with Maria are instantly at the forefront of my mind. I look over at Peter, and he has the exact same look on his face that I'm sure is present on mine. This is bad. This is really bad. I don't want to do this. I don't want to remember that hell.

Charlotte continues to walk across the left side of the room until we reach the center where topographical maps as well as a satellite image map are laying. I manage a quick look at the location they've been surveying before Charlotte says, "You guys can just wait here for the Captain. I need to see what Alexander was talking about."

She starts walkin' back towards the center of the room and shouts, "Private Collins!" Instantly I see a tall, dark haired woman standing at attention in front of Charlotte. She's wearing the same black fatigue pants and the same black combat boots, but instead of a dark shirt, hers is white. I note that it's the same as Private Alexander's and at least two-thirds of the soldiers in here, so the lighter color must be a symbol of their rank. Easy enough to remember.

We hear Charlotte continue, "I want Alexander to attack you again, and this time I want to see what you did to make him fly."

"Yes, Lieutenant!" She shouts. I can see Alexander from the other end of the room preparing himself and when Charlotte moves out of the way, he attacks. It's sloppy, but when he comes within reach of Collins, she pushes out her hand and Alexander's airborne again. Seems like Collins is gifted! That's a bonus.

"Alright," says Charlotte happily, "you'll be training that gift with the Captain starting tomorrow. For now though, you can go feed. Your eyes are too dark. After that, you may rest until training begins in the morning."

"Yes, Lieutenant!" Collins shouts and then she runs to the door and out of sight.

"We don't make it a habit to completely drain our troops, Major." Charlotte says to me. "I know you are worried about what you have seen, but don't worry. Our soldiers are very well taken care of. Nothing like what you were used to."

"Thank you for trying to ease my fears, Lieutenant, but I would prefer to see it with my own eyes." I reply.

"Understandably so." she states.

"Where is the Captain?" Peter asks. "I would very much like to meet this person."

"She is currently training with some of the gifted recruits. Back there" she points to an area on the other side of the room, "is where she likes to work. Away from prying eyes. She knew you both were coming, so I'm surprised she hasn't made an appearance."

"She?" Peter asks shocked. "Your Captain is a woman?"

"I told you my sister and I took the Volturi name." Charlotte states.

"I remember, but I thought you meant like a Lieutenant Commander or somethin'." says Peter.

"This isn't the Navy, Peter." I remind him.

"I know that." He replies a little sharply. "It's still shocking to hear that a woman is " _Captain_ " of the Volturi Guard." he says the title mockingly now, "what did she have to do to gain that title?"

Charlotte squares up to him with an evil look in her eyes and her head held high and states, "Even though you outrank me, _Captain_ ," Charlotte returns the mocking tone with ease "I would watch what you say about mine. The fact that she is a woman has nothing to do with it. She earned her title while she was still human. She is the best I've ever seen and takes care of her own. How many of yours can you say that about?"

I honestly wished I had a camera right now. It was the first time I've ever seen Peter speechless. I try to hold in my laughter as Peter gets his ass handed to him by this beautiful woman. He can't say a damn thing right now and he knows it. Then I feel something from him I never thought I would. He's ashamed at himself. He's also very angry that Charlotte had the audacity to put him in his place and for some reason he's also extremely turned on by the effect she has on him.

I look over at him with a raised brow to tell him to cool it with the lust. He looks abashed, but I can feel it bein' reined in. Granted, I wouldn't mind havin' my way with her either. It could be fun to see which one of us is more dominant in the bedroom, but those thoughts will have to wait.

Now might be a good time to intervene before Peter gets himself into even more trouble with this little spitfire. His reckless attitude can get the better of him. "Can you take us to your Captain, please?" I ask politely. "I would really like the opportunity to meet her."

"Of course, Major. This way." Charlotte says and begins to walk to the other side of the room. We follow her to the back right quarter of the room and Charlotte just stops. I can see that there are four people just beyond where we are, but as I try to move forward I realize that I'm being stopped by an invisible wall. I look over at Peter and he has his hands out on it just like I do. Charlotte, however has a very Cheshire cat grin on her face and says, "You won't make it any further in than that, boys. Not unless she wants you to. The Captain is a mental and physical shield. That's her in the center there." She points to a woman with mahogany hair that is also up in a bun, just like every other woman we've met so far. She's also dressed in army fatigues, but she has a pure black tank top on instead of a gray or white one. She's turned away from us facing the other three soldiers as she gives them one last command before releasing them for the day.

It all hits me in a rush. I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but I should have. All the signs were there. Even Aro gave me a clue as to who this Captain was and I was too blind to see it. The hair color, the 'punishment' from Aro, the mental shield, the complete loyalty that the Lieutenant has given her sister and Commanding Officer, and finally the fact that the entire Cullen coven will be here in a couple months. There's only one person I can think of who could be the cause of all this.

I see the three soldiers leave through a back door in the training room as Charlotte moves forward and past the shield that's keeping Pete and I out. Charlotte starts speakin' and I can see a profile of the woman she's talking to. I can only hope that I'm wrong in my assumptions as to who this is. However, luck is not on my side when Volturi Guard Captain Isabella Swan turns her crimson eyes around to face me and says simply, "Hello Jasper."

 **A/N: Excited squeal. I know you were waiting for him to enter the picture.**


	13. Chapter 13

**This one has a lot of different POVs, but I'm sure you'll be able to get the gist.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **JPOV**

"Bella?" I ask dumbfounded. I honestly cannot get my brain to connect the dots for this fucked up situation to be real. I still can't move, so I can't touch her to verify that it is, in fact real.

"Char, will you please show Captain Whitlock where he can go to feed? His eyes are too dark and I need a few minutes alone with Major Whitlock." Bella requests calmly.

"I just fed a few days ago, ma'am." Peter replies. "I'm good for another week or so."

"Regardless, I say that you need to feed, so go do it. We have a veritable banquet in the kitchens and you'll have plenty to choose from."

"So we don't hunt here?" Peter asks.

"No. Well, not really." Bella replies, "We have Heidi do all of our true hunting, but we have become far more strict in our feeding choices. You'll see that we do things very differently here in Volterra."

As she speaks, I can't help but notice how truly breathtakin' she's become over the last 50 years. She's older than I remember the last time I saw her, but considerin' Charlotte said she received her title of Captain when she was still human, I didn't expect her to be forever 18. The girl I saw at that damn party was just that. A girl. This woman in front of me has all the right curves in all the right places.

"Certainly." Charlotte responds before lookin' at Bella meaningfully and, after a small nod from Bella, grabs Peter by the arm and runs out the same door we just saw the recruits leave from.

"You probably have questions for me." She states knowingly.

"You're damn right I have questions!" I nearly shout. "The first of which is 'what the fuck?' and everythin else can come after that."

She apparently dropped her shield at some point because she closes the distance to me and unwinds her hair before lettin' it fall down her back. "Then let's answer those questions, Jasper." She says lookin' at me calmly. "Then we can get down to business."

I follow her back outside the trainin' facility and we find ourselves in a garden on the back end of the castle. She sits on a stone bench and pats her hand next to her as a request for me to sit. I comply because I honestly don't want to do anythin' else right now. If she's willin' to give me answers, then I'll do whatever she asks.

"Let's start with your first question," she begins with a small smile, "the inevitable 'what the fuck?' I think it was."

She proceeds to tell me everything that happened to her after we left. The depression, the catatonic state, the military academy and enjoyin' the life so much that she couldn't leave it, her progression to the rank of Captain and the furlough that she and Charlotte took to celebrate, then she spoke about meeting Felix, Jane, Alec and Santiago at a market. She explained that she knew what they were and she was only tryin' to defend herself and Charlotte, but she managed to set Santiago ablaze before Jane and Alec captured them. She also told me how she was changed and that she wanted Charlotte bitten first so she would always have her sister with her. Caius agreed when Marcus told him of her bond to Charlotte and three days later, she was a vampire.

After she awoke, she was lucid and explained to Caius that until she was ready, none of the Cullen's were to ever know that she was here. Caius agreed again and took her and Charlotte for their first feed. When Caius came up behind Bella and scared her, she threw up her shield and sent him flyin'. She felt bad about it then, but finds it funny as hell now. She then explained how her life here has been one that she really enjoyed and she was thrilled to become Captain of the Guard and take on missions that her Father wanted her to go on.

As I sat there listening to everythin' she had told me, I felt nothin' but joy and love for all of the people she mentioned in her vampire life. She was truly happy here, and it showed in the way she spoke about her large and sometimes irksome family. I couldn't help but be happy for her. She deserved happiness after what happened.

"Bella," I began after her story ended, "I wanted to apologize for what happened durin' that fuckin' birthday party. I was out of line to try and take a snap at you and I wanted to let you know that I regret what I've done every day since."

"There is no need to apologize for something you had no control over." Bella replies. "We're vampires. We drink blood. It's what we do. There's no sense in berating yourself for acting like a vampire acts. I forgave you immediately after it happened and never held you responsible. I do have a question, though if I'm not being too forward."

"Well, that's great because I'm sure I have an answer for you." I reply smiling.

She smiles back at me and it's almost like the sun were shinin' from within her. She was truly radiant. "You should smile more. You're absolutely stunnin' when you do."

"Well, thank you for the compliment, Major." she replies still smilin' and I'm sure if she could have been, she would have blushed.

"When I heard that you were living with Peter, it made me curious. What happened between you and Alice?"

"That" I say as I sigh heavily, "is complicated. To make a long story very, very short, she basically told me that she couldn't be my baby-sitter anymore and that she needed someone that she could rely on. Unfortunately for me, she didn't think I fit the bill, so I left and divorced her."

"Well, at least I don't have to worry about her coming into Volterra in a few months and wondering how the love of her life ended up here." she said with a smile.

"No. You don't have to worry about that at all. Speaking of Alice, though. How are you managin' to get around all of her visions? I'm sure that she's seen at least some of it, right?" I ask bewildered.

"Hahaha" she laughs delighted. "Fortunately I do have a few tricks up my sleeves. My mental shield protects this place from any unwanted psychic tampering. Basically, I block everyone's thoughts both here in the castle, and while we're on missions. It's a constant thing. Always up except for the rare occasions I get told to remove it from someone."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well, for example, once a month I'll remove the shield from around Heidi's mind for a few hours and all she thinks about that whole time are possibilities of where she'll go looking for victims to feed to us. Of course she'll 'decide' on the most appalling place she can think of." She says grinning. "In reality, we take what we need from prisioners who are either on death row, or looking at spending the rest of their lives in over-crowded jails. We…assist with the population, so to speak."

"There's a lot of thought that goes into that way of hunting." I say impressed.

"Thanks, it took a lot of convincing, but we finally were able to come to a compromise between my good ideas and the Kings' stubbornness. It works for now."

"What are some other things that you let Alice see?" I ask curiously.

"Well, unsuccessful business ventures, bogus missions, even the occasional fashion faux pas if I really wanna get under her skin."

"So you lie with your mind? That's brilliant." I manage to get out through a smile.

"Thanks. It's fun to test my limits like that."

"I bet. So now to brass tacks." I state switching gears. I hate to change subjects, but I really need to know what's going on and if I even want to be a part of whatever this is, even with Bella here.

"I figured it wouldn't be too long before you got tired of small talk." Bella replies. "I'll be more than happy to give you a bit of the rundown of what we've got going on, but I'll leave the full debrief until tomorrow."

"Sounds fair."

"Seven months ago, a vampire came to Volterra and caused quite the ruckus in the city square. He was lead to the throne room where he told us that his entire coven had been massacred." She says.

"I'm guessing Aro found out who did it." I reply.

"Very astute." she says smiling at me. "Yes. It was the Romanians. They had been recruiting vampires to join them and killed any coven or nomad who refused. Lucky for this guy, he was returning home after a hunt and was barely able to escape with his life."

"The Romanians? As in, Sefan and Vladimir?" I ask to clarify.

"The very same."

"I thought that they had died. No one's heard from them for years." I remarked.

"True, but now they've decided to come out of hiding. Worse still, they have recruited very, very well this go 'round. They now have a Sorcerer in their midst as well as a vampire you're incredibly familiar with." She lets the end of her sentence hang.

"No." I say disbelievingly. "No. They did not get that Mexican bitch to do their bidding for them." I could not believe that the Romanians would have the audacity to hire Maria. They knew what she was capable of. I immediately stood up and started pacing back and forth in the gardens. I was more than a little annoyed. In fact, I was becoming furious! How dare the Kings ask me to come here and do penance by staying here to help them fight!

"That is precisely what they did. Now, before you lose your temper," Bella began seemingly unconcerned, "I don't know what my Father and Uncles have in store for you regarding this war, but it may be something as simple as information. I wouldn't dare ask you to join the fight unless I had no other choice."

"I'm glad you see it that way, but do the Kings share that sentiment? I seriously doubt it." I state angrily.

I feel absolutely no fear from her, only resolve when she says, "The Kings may not share it, but I do have some say in what happens with my own Guard. Whether you choose to stay here and offer advice from afar, or whether you choose to join the fight, Major, I leave the decision up to you." She stands and makes her way over to where I've nearly paced a new trench in the garden. "I think it's time to retire for the evening. Tomorrow is a big day and I have matters I must attend to. So, if you are ready, I will lead you to the kitchens so you can feed before you destroy my mother's garden."

"You know, most people wouldn't dare speak to me that way when I'm angry." I reply.

"Really? The whole 'you won't like me when I'm angry' spiel? You'll come to find out soon enough, Hulk that I'm not most people and I can defend myself very well, thanks." Bella responds.

"What did you just call me? Hulk? What is a Hulk?" I ask perplexed and completely taken aback.

"Oh, no. You did not just say that." Bella looks at me disbelievingly. "Oh, honey. I know what we're doing tonight to relax. Marvel Movie Night."

"What kinda movie night?" I ask worriedly. She just shakes her head in response and continues to lead me to the kitchen.

 **Cullen House – Caribou, Maine**

Carlisle had been spending a lot of time at the hospital lately. Not from the desire to stay away from his family, but instead because the people of this little Maine town were going through one hell of a flu epidemic. This was actually the first day he had had the opportunity to leave the confines of the hospital in nearly a week. He obviously didn't need the sleep, but his colleagues practically had to shove him out the door to 'go home and get some rest'. Who was he to argue? If he would have refused, there would have been questions asked that he couldn't answer.

This would also be an opportune time to go up into the mountains to hunt. He hadn't been in far too long. He was thinking about the possibility of some cougars, or bears for a meal when he pulled up into the Cullen driveway and noticed that he had mail in the mailbox. It wasn't often that his family got mail, especially considering that they tried to stay out of the limelight, but when they did manage to get the odd letter or two, it wasn't anything to ignore. He didn't think anything of the various envelopes that had managed to find their way into his mailbox this evening as he placed them in the passenger seat of the car and headed up the driveway. It was probably just necessary paperwork from Esme's various design businesses or notices about upcoming Fashion Week Must Have's for Alice.

In truth, it wasn't until after he had placed the keys to his newest luxury Mercedes Sedan in the bowl next to the garage door and started going through the letters, that he began to mildly panic when he found one addressed to the _Cullen Household_ that was postmarked from Italy. A thousand thoughts and questions passed through his mind as to why the Volturi could be contacting them. Each thought as unlikely the reason as the last. Why would they contact his family? What had they done recently that could cause this?

He didn't hesitate before placing three separate phone calls. The first to Emmett and Rosalie, who were on their way back home from a hunt in the mountains; the next call was to Esme and Alice who were shopping in nearby Presque Isle for some furniture to go in one of Esme's renovated houses; and the third was to Edward, who was with his girlfriend Cybil. Everyone said they would meet at the house as soon as possible, but for Esme and Alice, it might take a while.

To pass the time, Carlisle went out into the forest behind his house to hunt whatever meal he could find at such a close distance. He didn't have to go more than a quarter mile away before he caught the scent of a deer. He caught it and drank without much fanfare, courtesy of his nerves, but at least his throat didn't burn as badly anymore.

Once he returned to the house, he found Edward in the living room apparently awaiting the reason for his sudden departure from his beloved Cybil.

"Carlisle, why did we get a letter from Volterra?" Edward asks, obviously having seen the reason for Carlisle's distress in his thoughts.

"I don't know, Edward. However, I refuse to open the letter to find out until everyone is back. There's no sense in going over the same thing more than once." Carlisle replies patiently.

Edward was obviously displeased by this, but considering he's not the head of the family, he has no choice but to wait until everyone else arrives.

Rose and Emmett show up about twenty minutes later, back from a hunt and a little worse for wear if their lack of clothing and the amount of debris they're currently trailing in is any indication. They don't say anything as they ghost up the stairs to their room before coming back down a few minutes later fully dressed and wet-haired from the shower.

"Carlisle, why did you need us back in such a hurry?" Emmett says questioningly, sitting on the couch and pulling Rose into his lap.

Edward just rolls his eyes at their display and tries very hard to ignore their inappropriate thoughts as he sits down in front of his piano and begins to play a song for his Cybil. It reminds him of the song he used to play for Bella Swan all those years ago. He wonders idly how she's doing. She must be in her 70's with a family of her own by now. He shakes his head to clear it of the thought of Bella Swan and pays a bit more attention to the conversation in the room.

Carlisle doesn't verbally answer Emmett's question, but lifts the letter from Volterra so Emmett and Rosalie can see it.

"Why would the Volturi be contacting us?" Rose asks indignant. "Unless of course Eddie's human has opened her big mouth, there would be no reason for them to contact us."

"I'm not sure Rose, but I wanted the entire family to be here when I open it. There's no sense in repeating myself several times when I can just read it once." Carlisle states with an air of patience he only reserves for her.

It isn't too much longer before Esme and Alice show up with their arms full of stuff for Esme's remodel, but when they notice the somber feel of the living room, they quickly set aside their purchases and take the empty seats left for them on the pristine white couch.

"What did we have to cut our shopping trip short for, Carlisle? I was helping Esme pick out this wonderful…" Alice begins haughtily.

"Alice," Carlisle interrupts, "what have you seen in regards to the Volturi recently?"

It seems as though every eye is on Alice as she says, "I haven't seen anything definitive. Just snippets of Heidi going hunting for the Kings, Demetri being sent on a mission to Russia, and Felix and Jane trying to start an unsuccessful business venture. Why?"

"We received a letter from the Kings today and I wanted to see if you had any visions about why they would be contacting us." Carlisle states simply.

"I haven't seen a thing." Alice replies shocked.

"Very well, I believe you." Carlisle says. "I guess we have no choice but to open it and see what it says."

He takes a deep, unneeded breath before he opens the distinct letter and he reads aloud:

 _Dearest Carlisle,_

 _It has been an age since your family has visited the City of Volterra. We sincerely hope that you have been extremely busy with your current ventures and that time has passed by far too quickly, like it does for our kind. In order to remedy this unintentional estrangement, we request the presence of you and your entire family in Volterra three months from now. We will send Demetri and our private plane to collect all of you just before the third full moon._

 _Caio,_

 _Aro of the Volturi_

"What does he mean, Carlisle?" Esme asks worriedly.

"It means that we have no choice but to go." Carlisle says resigned. "It's a summons to Volterra in three months. He doesn't say how long we'll be there, so I'm guessing he's giving us a chance to get our affairs in order before we go visit."

"Are you sure that we'll be there a while?" Rose asks.

"No, Rosalie, I'm not." Carlisle states. "I can only guess as to what he wants and why he's giving us three months before we head out there. I do know that sending Demetri to collect us doesn't bode well."

"He's a tracker." Edward states, picking the thought out of Carlisle's mind. "Like that James we met."

"Yes, Edward. Demetri is a tracker." Carlisle agrees. "The only difference between Demetri and the other tracker we met is that Demetri is the absolute best tracker in the vampire world. If there were anyone better, Aro would have them instead. I can only guess that if we try to run, or if we refuse to show, Demetri has been given the authority to find us and get us to Volterra by any means necessary."

"This is all just speculation though, right?" Emmett asks. "I mean, we haven't done anything to be on the Volturi's shit list."

"Emmett! Language!" Esme reprimands.

"Sorry, Esme." Emmett replies, then continues, "From what I heard, they just want us to come out for a visit. Even the Denali's go to Volterra to visit every once in a while. What makes you think this summons is cause for us to act like this is the worst case scenario?"

"You can't take anything Aro says at face value, Emmett." Carlisle states exasperated. "He chooses every word with extreme care and doesn't say anything lightly."

"That's exactly what I mean, Carlisle." Emmett states. "He said 'unintentional estrangement' which to me means that he's aware that we've been busy with school and you've been busy at the hospital. It seems that he knows the reason we haven't visited isn't because we don't want to, but because we've been too busy to. This could just be his way of telling all of us that we're going to need to take some time off from work and school in a couple months."

"That's something to take into consideration." Carlisle amends.

"And this thing with Demetri, so what if he's a tracker?" Emmett continues, "He could be the only one who knows how to fly that particular plane, or he could be the only one available to fly it out at that time because the other members of the Guard could be busy doing something else. Just because we got this summons to visit Volterra doesn't mean it's a bad thing. It could honestly mean that the Kings just want to check in with us."

Carlisle takes a deep breath before saying, "I seriously hope you're right, Emmett."

"What does he mean by the 'entire family', though?" Rosalie asks.

"I suppose he meant that all of us were to show up when Demetri gets here." Carlisle states.

"I don't think so." Rosalie remarks. "It sounds to me like he means _everyone_."

"No!" Edward exclaims, clearly reading something in Rosalie's thoughts. "She's not going! I won't let her be in the presence of those monsters!"

"I'm completely lost." Emmett states. "Who are you talking about?"

"Isn't it obvious, Em?" Rosalie replies. "Eddie's human has to come, too. That's what Aro meant about the entire family. Somehow he knows about Cybil and he wants to see her."

"I said no!" Edward shouts and stands crouched and growling in front of Rosalie. She ignores him and snuggles further into Emmett's arms.

"Edward, I've seen it. If she doesn't come with us, she will be hunted down and kidnapped. We have to take her with us." Alice responds calmly stepping in front of Edward and placing her hand gently on his face to calm him.

"Then I suppose we'd better get everything prepared." Carlisle muses. "Someone'll have to call Cybil's parents tomorrow and mention that our family is going to Italy for some reason and Cybil is more than welcome to come with us. Hopefully her parents will let her."

"Well, we don't have to leave for another three months, so I suggest that we finish what we were doing before we were so rudely interrupted." Alice replies as she saunters her way up to her bedroom with the days' purchases.

"Well, I suppose we need to prepare to be gone for an extended period of time." Carlisle states to the room. "Please have your bank statements, credit card statements, class information, business information, and anything else that we'll need to put on hold for a while on my desk in my study before the end of the week. I'll handle everything until we get back."

"Actually, Carlisle, Rose and I are going to handle all of our crap on our own. I wanna give this whole thing a good solid college try, ya know?" Emmett responds.

"Very well. Esme, could you please contact Cybil's parents in the morning and convince them to let her come with us to Volterra? You could say it was a semester abroad type thing?" Carlise turns to his mate to ask.

"I'll come up with something." Esme replies cheerfully.

 **Caius POV**

"Do you really think they'll bring her?" I ask Aro as we sit in his office playing the latest round of tapes from the surveillance system in the Cullen's home.

"I don't see that they have any choice, Caius." Aro replies. "If they don't, I'm sure Carlisle knows what means we will employ to get to her."

"Are we sure that this is a good idea?" Marcus asks concerned.

"It is by far the best idea." Aro replies. "How else are we to determine what hold he has on his human without actually meeting her? We obviously can't use Bella as she's been out of his reach of influence for so long. I just have a feeling that if I can see what he's doing to them, I'll be able to determine what his endgame is."

"Have we found any others that he may have left alive?" Marcus asks.

"No, but we've looked. Any other human that may have been under his influence is either long dead, or one of us." Aro remarks.

"Well, we need to worry about more pressing matters, not matters that can wait a month or so." Caius tells his brothers. "We need a plan of action for Maria and the Romanians."

"I wouldn't worry about that tonight, brother." Aro answers. "We will hear everything we need to during tomorrow's debriefing with the Major. He may have a way to get through Maria's defenses without raising too much suspicion and who knows? He may have a few ideas on how to win this war that we haven't taken into account yet."

"So we're waiting?" Caius asks.

"For now, it seems like the best option. I would recommend that you spend some time with your wife and daughters before they have to leave again." Marcus replies.

"Isn't tomorrow Saturday?" Aro asks seemingly out of the blue.

"I believe so." I reply curiously. "Why?"

"Well, since both Isabella and Charlotte are back, I do believe it's time to re-visit the Blood Room Bingo wheels and see what ridiculousness awaits us this weekend."

"I think that's a brilliant plan! I'll go make the announcement now!" Marcus states excitedly as he hurries from the room.

"I still can't get over the fact he actually likes making a fool of himself every weekend." Aro remarks as he watches Marcus' retreating form run down the corridor and around the corner.

"I don't think making a fool of himself is the point." I respond thoughtfully. "I think that he misses the opportunity to have a bit of fun every now and again. I mean think about it, we're over a millennia old, we're not dead."

"Well, we better go catch up to him before he picks out this weekend's themes on his own. Then who knows if it'll be legitimate?" Aro replies as he shuts down his computer and we both head down the hallway after Marcus.

It didn't take long for everyone to be gathered in the throne room. I'm not exactly sure if it was the excitement at being able to party it up tomorrow night, or if it was because Marcus ran through the entire castle loudly exclaiming that the Blood Room Balls were to be drawn for this weekend's theme. Frankly, I'm sure he could have phrased it better.

We waited in the throne room until everyone in the castle had made their way in as well and we waited on the dais for Bella and Char to bring up the Bingo wheels.

Aro steps forward on the dais and raises his hands up for everybody's attention. "Now, I see that there are several new faces in the crowd tonight for this meeting. Welcome new recruits and visitors! I would like to say that I am honored to invite you to the Blood Room this weekend for a celebration! You could say it is a sort of send-off to our Guard that are leaving for Romania. Granted, we haven't kept up with this in a while, and we apologize for that, but we will do our best to make up for it. Marcus, if you will." Aro states as he turns his attention to Marcus and lets him have the floor.

"There are two rolling cages that you see before you. One has in it a thousand years broken into decades. The other has various styles of music from within those decades. Caius and Aro will pick one of each and I will read them aloud. Brothers, begin rolling."

"The first category we have is…" Marcus paused for dramatic effect as Aro handed him one of the laminated sheets. "…the 1920's!"

We could see several of the people in attendance getting really excited by the prospect of dressing in 20's style garb. Others were just confused. Everyone else was just awaiting the music style now. I stopped the cage and reached into the slot to grab a single style. Once I grabbed onto the one that felt right, I handed it over to Marcus.

"The music style is…" another dramatic pause. If he kept this up, he'd be just as bad as Aro. "…Progressive Metal!"

"Wonderful!" Aro exclaims. "We will see everyone tomorrow evening at the Blood Room! Entry is at 8:00 p. m. and remember, no costume, no entry! Dismissed!"

I can't help but wonder about this Progressive Metal business. However, if I know one thing for certain, I know I'll have to find out one way or another. I just hope Athena still has my suits from the 20's in storage somewhere. I do miss dressing like an old-school gangster, and I know Athena misses her flapper dresses. I can only hope she remembers where she put them.

 **BPOV**

"What the hell did we just bear witness to?" I hear drawling behind me as I move the rolling cages back into storage.

"This weekend's theme if you wanna party at the Blood Room." I reply over my shoulder to Peter.

"What the hell is the Blood Room?" he asks confused.

"The Blood Room is a Volturi only club inside the castle that Bella and I started during our newborn year here. We started doing themed entries every weekend to include everyone and keep everyone happy. We managed to include every Volturi member in both the music selection and the clothing selection, but unfortunately, or fortunately, they don't always match up. I think the last time was when we got Father to dress like a 1980's Rockstar in those leather pants!" Char says giggling. "It was the best thing I've ever seen."

"He looked hilarious." I agree laughing at the memory. "But he enjoyed it just as much as we did.

"So the Kings get involved in the festivities, too?" Jasper asks while I'm closing the storage room door.

"Marcus is there every weekend we've got the place open, Caius is there when he feels he won't make a fool of himself or when he knows it'll make us happy, and Aro is only there if we play music from a specific time period. Although it was humorous to see Aro dressed in a wife beater, baggy gray sweatpants, and a gold diamond encrusted chain that said ARO hanging from his neck, all with a flat billed ball cap on sideways while dancing to Bach's Harpsichord concerto, in D Minor. And that was only last year." Char volunteers cheerfully.

"I still would love to know who convinced him to wear that." I wonder aloud.

"I have no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if Sulpicia had something to do with it." Char responds.

"Or Jane." I amend.

"Or Jane." Char agrees.

"Sounds…entertaining." Jasper states concerned.

"Well, you boys are more than welcome to join us for tomorrow's festivities. You never know, you may actually have fun." I say invitingly.

"We would, but unfortunately we'll probably have to prepare for the battle with Maria tomorrow night and we didn't bring any clothes from the 20's."

"That's alright. Heidi is a great seamstress and the people she's hired for these occasions are amazing themselves. If you're interested in letting loose a bit before we head to Romania, I would seriously consider coming." I reply. "As for tonight, though, I think we agreed on a little Marvel Movie Marathon in the theater. Follow me."

"This place has a theater, too?" I hear Peter ask in awe.

"Yes, Peter, it has a theater, too." I reply.

"What did we decide on?" Char asks. "And why Marvel?"

"Uh, why not Marvel, should be your question, and because I called Jasper the Hulk earlier and he had no idea what I was talking about."

"Incredible Hulk it is then. What is after that?"

"I was thinking we could just start with Phase 1. It's not like we don't have time for all of them before we meet with the Kings in the morning." I state confidently finally making my way to the theater door.

"Good choice." Char replies as she heads inside to get the projector up and running.

We had added an upgrade to the theater that the Kings had already had about 13 years ago. The new system allowed us to both store and play movies pretty much on demand. The only thing we had to worry about was getting the projector up and running.

"Take your seats, gentlemen." I say in a mock-announcer voice. "We are about to blow your collective minds with the fabulousness that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe; Phase 1."

"Phase 1?" Peter asks. "How many Phases are there?"

"Enough to keep you entertained for a while." Char replies. "Now sit back and enjoy."

 **A/N: Things are getting interesting now, huh?**


	14. Chapter 14

**I know its taken me forever to post this next chapter and I apologize immensely for that, but I had major computer problems that had to wait until funding to get fixed. Then my lovely muse decided she wanted to leave me for more appropriate pursuits. Now I have a reliable means of writing, and my lovely muse back, so I'll probably be at it a lot more.**

 **I still own nothing, except maybe the plot.**

 **BPOV**

"Why have I never seen these movies before?" Jasper asks me honestly appalled at himself.

"Maybe because you lived with a repressed dickhead?" Char answers shrugging her shoulders.

We had spent the better part of the evening introducing Jasper and Peter to he Marvel Cinematic Universe with all of Phase 1. They had seemed to be enjoying themselves and the movies, so I had felt a little bad about turning them off after the original Avengers movie was over, but we did have a meeting with my father, uncles, and major players in the Guard this morning and I didn't want to be late.

"I won't bother denyin' that considerin' Eddie was both repressed and a dickhead, but these seem right up Em's alley." Jasper responds.

"You're right." I reply remembering back to when I knew the adorable goofball that was Emmett McCarty. "They do."

"I suppose it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to say he probably has seen 'em, but no one knows about it because they'd all give him shit for it." Peter states confidently.

"Wouldn't surprise me either, now that I think about it." I respond looking over at Jasper knowingly. "The Cullen's do seem the type to think they're more 'high class' than most and watching fantasy movies would fall under the category of 'Things Cullen's Wouldn't Be Caught Un-Dead Doing'."

A small smirk graced Jasper's face and was gone so quickly that, had I not been staring, I would have missed it. "Honestly, they're a bunch of pretentious assholes and you're probably better off without them." Char replies as she pulls one of the doors to Caius' office open.

We had agreed before Jasper had arrived that we would make this meeting a bit more informal. Holding this discussion in one of the King's offices just seemed like the best idea to make Jasper and Peter more comfortable. Holding it in Caius' office just seemed ideal considering he was our version of a 5-Star General.

"Ah" I hear from inside the office "welcome, welcome." I hear Aro say arily. "I'm glad everyone could make it this morning."

"I was under the impression we didn't have much of a choice." Peter responds taking an available seat in front of Caius' large desk. Jasper chooses the seat next to Peter and relaxes in it seeming unconcerned about anything that we plan to discuss this morning.

"You didn't." Caius states calmly from behind the desk. "Aro just enjoys making you think you have a choice."

"He also loves the added unnecessary drama." Marcus adds from the corner of the room.

Aro says nothing, but gives both of his brothers a look that clearly says 'shut up! You're ruining my image!' and there's something so funny about it that I nearly laugh out loud.

"Anyway," Aro says taking control of the room again and casually leaning against the front of the desk with his back facing Caius, "Major, when you and Captain Whitlock arrived yesterday, I told you that as punishment for not following Volturi Law while you were a part of the Cullen Coven, you were to remain here to assist in the crisis the Volturi has currently found itself in. How you wish to provide that assistance is entirely up to you. All we really need from you is information about your Maker, Maria."

"Sounds simple enough." Peter responds leaning back in his chair, the picture of relaxation. "What is it you'd like to know?"

"As much information as you can give us." replies Caius simply "How she chooses her Army, when she goes out to collect victims, how she trains them, what her endgame is, how to get past her defenses, and how we can win against her."

"You don't need all of that information to best her because you can't" Jasper begins confidently "there lies your first mistake."

"How do you mean?" I ask him a little confused.

"With Maria, there's nothin' she won't do and no one that she won't sacrifice to keep the upper hand. You don't beat her. At least not in the conventional way." Jasper reiterates waving a hand in the air dismissively. "She'd give up Stefan and Vladimir without hesitation if she thought her own life would depend on it. She has no loyalties to anyone other than herself. Even those she sees as useful to her are only spared death while they are of use to her. Once that ceases to be the case, their lives are ended with no more fanfare than she would give her next meal."

"Alright, Major" Caius begins "then what do you suggest we do? We've tried everything in our power to get past her defenses and still, we have nothing to show for it."

"Seven months we've been in Romania and we haven't managed to gain any ground at all with this campaign and the Romanian's numbers seem to keep increasing! We don't know where she finds these people! It's like they keep appearing from thin air! Worse still is that we can't get within two miles of the compound where they've decided to hole up. There's also apparently a sorcerer in their ranks and even my shields can't penetrate the barrier they've put in place!" I state angrily running my fingers through my hair. I'm frustrated with the lack of movement and even more frustrated that I can't seem to get any idea about their next move.

"I understand your frustration about this, daughter" replies Caius "and as justified as your anger is, we need you calm and clear-headed in order to find the best solution."As he turns his attention back to Jasper, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed and a bit guilty for my attitude. I know he's right. My emotions do cloud my judgement and I can't think properly when I'm angry. Not many people can.

"So what do you recommend, Major?" Caius asks.

"Well, it's obvious isn't it?" Jasper asks the room. "You need somethin' unconventional. A strategy that Maria, Stephan, and Vladimir won't expect."

"Go on." Aro remarks intrigued.

"The way I see it," says Jasper inhaling and pausing before continuing in a rush "y'all only have one choice to win against the Romanians. You have to lose to 'em."

I half expected an uproar of impressive proportions and hours of arguing after a statement like that. Instead, the silence that followed was deafening. We all looked at Jasper like he'd grown a second head before Marcus, bewildered, asked "What?"

"I said you needed somethin' unconventional. Think about it for a second before you dismiss it completely." Jasper says seeming to build on his own thought as he spoke. "You said you'd been in the same position, not gainin' any ground or military advancement in seven months. The way I see it, you have two options at this point, you either continue what you're doin' in hopes that you'll eventually get somewhere, or you play the surrender card."

The rest of us in the room continued to stare at Jasper as though he had gone crazy, but he continued to talk. "Maria has never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth, her ego is far too big for that. I'm also going off of the assumption that the Romanian's have fairly decent-sized egos themselves, so they won't think that your 'surrender' may not be as straightforward as it seems."

"How do you suggest we go about this, exactly?" I ask concerned for the safety and well-being of my Guard that would be in harm's way during this plan.

"You need to schedule a meetin' with all three of 'em." Jasper says confident in his plan. "A form of 'peace talk' to keep Maria and the Romanians distracted. They would need to hear that the Kings have traveled to Romania and plan to surrender, but that you also want to discuss the terms of that surrender. Let them know that these discussions could take a while. Meanwhile, they would need to drop their defenses in order to meet with you. Think of it as a form of cease-fire if it makes you feel better. However, during that cease-fire, you need a team that is willin' to blitz the stronghold before the Romanians realize what exactly is happenin'. You also need the team that meets with Maria and the Romanian's to be prepared to hold 'em as their army is being disposed of. Aro and Caius, I would recommend that y'all go to Romania for this because it will look to them like you're serious about the surrender. Y'all also want to be there to pass judgement on the troublemakers for their crimes. You want to win this war, this is how you do it. I never said that you had to win fairly."

"I can see about ten different ways that this could go horribly wrong." Char states boldly. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I can see why this would work if we don't run into any unforeseen issues, but after what I've dealt with for the better part of a year, I'm going to assume that Maria and the Romanian's have more information than we do at all times. Therefore, I'm also going to assume that they have contingency plans for their contingency plans. How in the world are we going to make this work?"

I have to agree wholeheartedly with Char on this one. I don't know how we could manage to pull this kind of strategic maneuver without it blowing up in our faces. Personally, I like my life the way it is and I'd like to continue to live it.

"I never said it was fool-proof." Jasper says with an air of nonchalance that I wish I had right now. "It's just an idea that y'all can build on and iron out the kinks to before you put this into action. You still have several of your Guard in Romania, right?"

"Yes." I state acidly. "And I'd like to get back to them as quickly as I can."

"I get that" Jasper says trying to calm me down, "but they need to stay there and continue their assault while we make a plan that we can all agree on."

"Personally," Aro states to the room "I happen to approve of subterfuge."

"Well, if anyone would, it would most certainly be you, brother." Marcus responds. I had to agree with Marcus on this one. If anyone would approve of deceiving others to achieve his goals, it would be Aro.

"Alright, now all we need to do is expound on this plan and iron out the specifics." Caius states excitedly. "Then we may finally be rid of these Romanian dogs for good."

"Ok" Jasper says rubbing his hands together. His excitement nearly matching Caius'. "Let's get started."


End file.
